Attorney General's News Release

October 28, 1996

Fourth defendant pleads guilty, sentenced this morning in Independence election fraud case

Independence, Mo. — The treasurer of a group involved in a 1995 petition drive in Independence today pleaded guilty to a felony election fraud charge brought by Attorney General Jay Nixon. Kirby Minor was the fourth person to plead guilty to charges related to the drive conducted by the Taxpayers' Defense League to amend the Independence city charter.

Minor pleaded guilty to the felony charge of knowingly furnishing false information to an election authority. Jackson County Circuit Judge Lee Wells suspended imposition of sentence and placed Minor on five years' probation. As part of the probation, Minor must pay $3,000 to the Missouri crime victims' compensation fund, perform 100 hours of community service and remain on 30 days electronic home detention.

Nixon filed charges last November against Minor, David Armburst, Ronald Hardie and Karen Larkin following his investigation of the petition drive. Nixon charged that the petitions contained forgeries and the names of dozens of dead people. All the defendants pleaded guilty and were ordered to perform community service and pay fines to the crime victims' fund or reimburse investigative costs to Independence election authorities.

“Missouri's election laws are very strict in order to preserve the integrity of the ballot box,” Nixon said. “These strict standards definitely include laws regarding petitions, as these defendants have found out. Those who break election laws need to understand that we stand ready to aggressively enforce those laws.”

Nixon said his office reviewed 61 proposed statewide initiative petitions last year. The Attorney General's Office has statutorial authority for approving the form of the petition and ensuring that the title of the petition reflects the content of the initiative effort.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818