Felony warrant issued for 2nd KC-area village board member with ties to weed district
An elected official in a Jackson County village was wanted on a felony warrant as of last week, a police document says, the second current or former River Bend official facing allegations of criminal wrongdoing.
Every member of River Bend’s governing board this fall had connections to the developer of a planned marijuana-based entertainment district, The Star revealed in an investigation in October. Village business owners voiced concerns about the board’s legitimacy and questioned whether some of the members had lived there long enough to be on the board.
Board member James F. Hoppe, who was reelected this fall by winning a tie-breaker drawing, had an outstanding felony warrant in Jackson County as of Dec. 29, according to a Gladstone police report obtained by The Star on Wednesday.
The report doesn’t describe the allegations against Hoppe, and a search of Missouri court records didn’t reveal any public criminal cases against him.
But Hoppe is married to Jessica Caswell, a former River Bend board member indicted by a Jackson County grand jury in December on felony counts of providing false voter documentation. Caswell is accused of signing false documentation stating that she met the statutory qualifications of a candidate, even though she did not meet the residency requirement.
Caswell’s criminal case became public on Tuesday. During an initial court appearance in Jackson County Circuit Court, Judge Jerri Zhang referred to a co-defendant.
Hoppe didn’t respond to calls on Wednesday, and Caswell declined to comment after her court hearing. A spokesperson for Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jean Peters Baker didn’t immediately comment on Wednesday.
River Bend, a tiny village east of Kansas City, features a loose, business-friendly culture but was largely unknown by many in the metro. It had an estimated population of just three people, according to the most recent U.S. Census data, although the number of people living there was disputed.
The Gladstone police report describes the arrest of Caswell by a Gladstone officer on Dec. 29. The officer, identified only as “C. Aikmus,” wrote that he went to Botanic Business Services LLC in regards to a “wanted party.”
“Prior to my arrival I conducted a zip code inquiry, which revealed two subjects, identified as Jessica C. Caswell and James F. Hoppe and located at the address with outstanding felony warrants out of Jackson County with bond amounts of $15,000 each,” the report says.
The report says employees at the business said Hoppe doesn’t work there but Caswell has a job and was present. After confirming Caswell’s warrant was active, the officer arrested her.
Caswell is listed as the human resources director for Botanic Business Services on her Facebook page. The Missouri Secretary of State’s website lists Jack Mitchell, the developer of the proposed marijuana-based entertainment district who had ties to the village board, as the registered agent for that company.
In a July Facebook post, Caswell thanked Mitchell “for being the best boss ever.”
Mitchell, who withdrew his development plans in September, didn’t respond to a call on Wednesday.