NORTH ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo.—The process for determining who will next serve as St. Louis County’s Prosecuting Attorney continued on dual tracks Tuesday with no sign that the two leaders who each claim to have the authority to make the appointment appear ready to budge.

What You Need To Know

  • St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell will be sworn in s a member of Congress on Jan. 3 and he's said he plans to remain in his current post until then

  • St. Louis County Executive Sam Page says the state's constitution and the county charter gives him the authority to nominate a replacement who then must be confirmed by the county council. Page said Tuesday he's interviewed three candidates and hopes to name a finalist in a few weeks, after saying last week that he wanted to make an announcement by the end of November

  • Governor Mike Parson maintains that he has the right to make the appointment. An application window expired Friday, with a spokesperson confirming six candidates and others who are also under consideration

  • It is unclear what will happen if Parson and Page attempt to name their own candidates. Page would not engage in hypothetical questions about it Tuesday, and the Attorney General's office did respond to a question asking if legal action would be a next step


After a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the opening of a new St. Louis County Police Precinct Tuesday morning, Page said he’s interviewed three candidates to fill out the remainder of Wesley Bell’s term in the office. Bell was elected to Congress and will leave the Prosecuting Attorney’s office no later than Jan. 3. 

Page is standing firm behind the interpretation of the state constitution and the county charter that allows him to nominate a prosecuting attorney who would then need county council approval, similar to the process followed in recent years when St. Charles County appointed a new prosecuting attorney. The obvious difference in the cases is party affiliation. In St. Charles County, it was a Republican County Executive in Steve Ehlmann who made the pick. In St. Louis County, Page is a Democrat.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s office confirmed Tuesday that six applicants had stepped forward by last Friday’s deadline and that others were in the mix for the job. Parson and Attorney General Andrew Bailey maintain it’s the state’s choice to make, which wouldn’t be subject to county council approval.

It’s unclear what will happen if one side tries to make an appointment, or if they both do at the same time. The attorney general’s office did not respond to a question Tuesday asking if it was considering legal action.

Page said he hopes to have an announcement in a few weeks, after saying last week his goal was to have one by the end of November. He wasn’t willing to engage in answering ‘what if’ questions Tuesday.

“We can’t walk down the pathways of hypothetical questions, we’d be here a long time, but we’ll have a prosecuting attorney in St. Louis County and it will be someone who will do the work, protect public safety, make sure that violent criminals are charged and do the same kind of work that Wesley Bell’s been doing,” he said. “We’ll get the work done, in spite of all the noise in the air.”

Bell has pledged full cooperation with whoever lands the job, but said he’d prefer to avoid a situation where the office is forced to prepare both potential candidates at the same time.

“I hope that cooler heads will prevail,” he said. 

"I fully expect and hope they’re going to sit down and deal with this matter. We saw precedent recently a year and a half ago in St. Charles, and at the end of the day if it is something that’s going to be handled in courts, that’s where it’ll be handled, but I anticipate that this is going to be resolved quickly.”

Bell has previously said he hopes the next prosecuting attorney comes from his existing leadership team.