AGREEMENT REACHED IN PERRY SENATE BILL 40 FLAP

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Perry County's former Senate Bill 40 board reached a legal compromise with county officials in a lawsuit that alleged board members were dismissed incorrectly.

The settlement was reached Thursday morning, making a 10 a.m. hearing before St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert H. Dierker Jr. unnecessary.

Former board members, many of whom had served for more than 20 years, didn't express much satisfaction with the negotiated settlement.

The settlement, which will not reinstate the old board, is somewhat hard to accept, said Al Cearlock, former board chairman. He said he still blames the three county commissioners for rushing to make a decision about dismissing the board.

"It didn't have to end up in this manner," Cearlock said.

Adrian Moll had continuously served on the board since its inception in 1976. The result wasn't exactly what he had hoped for.

"At first I didn't want to go through with the lawsuit," he said. "But then we hired (attorney) John Oliver, and I still think he did a good job for us."

The Senate Bill 40 board appropriates county tax revenues of approximately $190,000 each year for the Perry County Sheltered Workshop, which employs the mentally and physically disabled.

Oliver, of Cape Girardeau, declined to comment on the details of the settlement on Thursday.

Perry County Prosecuting Attorney Thomas Hoeh also declined to comment. He defended the county officials in the lawsuit.

The defendants could not be reached for comment on Thursday. They include County Clerk Randy Taylor, Presiding Commissioner Tom Sutterer, Eastern District Commissioner Dennis Lohmann and Western District Commissioner Michael Yamnitz.

The lawsuit began when the former board's members were told April 6 that they violated a state statute. The statute says Senate Bill 40 boards must present requests for reappointment of its members to the county commission before their three-year terms expire.

The former board responded by filing a petition in Perry County Circuit Court seeking declaratory relief and a writ of prohibition. The writ requested that Dierker find that the new board did not have authority to operate.

Oliver said when he filed that the board has evidence that appointments were made properly and he would ask the court to rule that the County Commission overstepped its authority.

"The statute doesn't give them any authority to disband the board," Oliver had said. "They can appoint and reappoint only."

The board members had stated in a press release that the defendants are "upstanding citizens with integrity." But the defendants and the general public have been misinformed, the board members said.

Oliver had also represented VIP Industries operator Hillary Schmittzehe in a lawsuit last year against the state Department of Mental Health. Many Perry County residents who sought changes in the Senate Bill 40 board have said Schmittzehe wielded too much influence over its members.

The lawsuit, which alleged that Mental Health owed VIP Industries for incomplete reprocessing of its bills, was settled out of court.