SPECIAL ELECTION SET FOR APRIL 1 TO FILL PROST SEAT

Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan has scheduled a special election for April 1 to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of state Rep. Don Prost, D-Caruthersville.

Carnahan set the special election Tuesday in an executive order.

Prost was re-elected to the 162nd District House seat in November. The district includes Dunklin, New Madrid and Pemiscot counties.

But in December he took a job as staff director of the Joint Committee on Legislative Research. He was hired a week after he resigned as chairman of the committee. The move prompted public criticism. State law doesn't prohibit a lawmaker from applying for a state job.