Pardoned felon cannot run for elected office in Missouri, state Supreme Court says

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a Cass County man cannot run for elected office even though he was pardoned by Gov. Mike Parson.

The state’s highest court ruled that Herschel Young’s pardon did not exempt him from the fact that Missouri law bans from elected office people who have pleaded guilty to felonies.

Young, who was attempting to run for the Cass County Commission, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in 1995 and was sentenced to one year in prison. Parson, a Republican, pardoned him in November 2023.

Monday’s ruling upholds a lower court’s finding that while Parson’s pardon erased his conviction, it did not remove his guilt or the fact that he pleaded guilty.

“Any individual who has pleaded guilty to a felony offense under Missouri law is disqualified to be a candidate for elective public office in the state, and Young has indisputably pleaded guilty to a felony offense under Missouri law,” Judge W. Brent Powell wrote in the decision.

Young’s attorney did not immediately return a call for comment on Monday. A call to a phone number listed for Young was also unsuccessful.

The decision comes as former President Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts in New York looms over the 2024 presidential race. While Missouri law bans felons from elected office, federal law does not prevent people with criminal convictions from running for president.

Monday’s decision in Missouri was not the first time Young has tried to run for elected office despite his criminal conviction.

In 2010, before being pardoned, he was elected presiding commissioner of Cass County. However, a lower court in 2011 ousted him from office due to his criminal history.

Young in 2022 also unsuccessfully ran as a Republican for Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s district. He was also defeated in two other runs for U.S. House as a Libertarian in 2012 and 2014.

Judge Robin Ransom, who Parson appointed to the Missouri Supreme Court, dissented on Monday, arguing that the state Attorney General’s Office should have been notified before the decision was made.

Parson, in his pardon message, wrote the following, according to court filings:

“I hereby grant Herschel Young a full pardon from the above conviction. This pardon obliterates said conviction so that I hereby restore all rights of citizenship forfeited by said conviction and remove any legal disqualification, impediment, or other legal disadvantage that may be a consequence of said conviction.”

Young had argued in previous court filings that Parson’s pardon should have wiped away all consequences of his guilty plea.

But in Monday’s decision, Powell pointed to the specific wording of Missouri law and the fact that lawmakers have not amended state law to deal with people who have been pardoned by a governor.

“The legislature chose to use the phrase ‘found guilty of or pled guilty to ’rather than using the term conviction,’ illustrating the legislature’s intent to broaden the disqualifications for elective public office beyond conviction of an offense,” Powell wrote.