ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo.-- A longtime Berkeley, Mo. official has agreed not to seek further public office in exchange for having the state drop charges of election fraud.

Theodore Hoskins, who was first elected to the city council in 1985 and later served separate terms as Mayor and as a State Representative, was accused of altering absentee ballots and other offenses when he was charged with a felony count of forgery and four counts of committing an election offense in 2019 while he was Mayor. He was elected to his current council seat in 2022.

In a court filing Friday, the charges were dismissed by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, which was serving as a special prosecutor in the case. Hoskins agreed not to seek further office, or re-election. He’s free to serve in office until his term ends in 2026.

"Our main goal was to remove Hoskins from political office. The sworn agreement we have accomplishes that," the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s office said in a statement.

"The allegations against Councilmember Hoskins were very serious. The activities described in the legal documents are in no way representative of who we are as a community, or how we conduct ourselves professionally," Berkeley Mayor Babatunde Deinbo said in a statement to Spectrum News. 

"Although adjudicated before going to trial, with today’s announcement of a settlement agreement, our community is assured that the we can move past an unfortunate time in our City’s history, towards a better and brighter future for our residents," Deinbo said.  

Hoskins could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.