IRON COUNTY, Mo. — Iron County Sheriff Jeff Burkett resigned Wednesday, the same day a trial seeking to remove him from office was set to begin.
Burkett's lawyer Gabe Crocker confirmed the resignation and said the impeachment trial will not proceed now that he has filed his resignation.
The impeachment trial was set to begin about 10 months after Burkett, two of his deputies and a citizen were all charged in with multiple crimes related to an alleged scheme to kidnap the citizen’s children from their mother following a domestic dispute. Those charges included street gang activities, misusing 911, stalking, making a false report, looking up criminal records under false pretense and attempted kidnapping.
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Burkett's lawyer Gabe Crocker confirmed his client's resignation, which he said has been in the works for some time.
Iron County sheriff is an elected position, and Crocker said Burkett plans to run again in the 2024 race. He would have been ineligible to run again if he were impeached.
Burkett is facing numerous criminal charges, including:
- participating knowingly in criminal street gang activities
- third-degree attempted kidnapping
- first-degree stalking
- second-degree stalking
- obtaining criminal history record info under false pretense
- disclosure of confidential criminal records
- misusing 911
- making a false report
According to online court documents, a pre-trial motion hearing is scheduled in Burkett's case for Feb. 26.
In a statement issued shortly after charges were filed, Crocker called the charges "politically motivated."
"There has been an ongoing attempt to remove Sheriff Burkett from office before he even took office," the statement said.
Deputy Chase Bresnahan, Deputy Matt Cozad and Iron County resident Donald “Rick” Gaston were the others charged in connection with the alleged parental kidnapping.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who filed a quo warranto petition against Burkett in June, provided the following statement Wednesday:
“As Attorney General, I will always work to hold accountable those who refuse to do their job as required by Missouri statute. Missourians have seen firsthand what happens when elected officials fail to enforce the law: it’s utter chaos. We kept the pressure up, and he resigned because he knew we were going to win at trial this week.”
Attorney General Bailey filed the petition of quo warranto to remove Iron County Sheriff Burkett from office last summer.
The quo warranto alleged that Burkett “has knowingly or willfully failed and refused to perform official acts and duties with respect to the execution or enforcement of criminal laws of the State, and has engaged in willful acts of misconduct, malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance in office.” The petition alleged that Burkett was unfit to hold office after allegedly helping Rick Gaston, an Iron County resident, with a plot to kidnap Gaston’s children from their mother after a domestic dispute.
Following this incident, the Washington County Prosecutor criminally charged Iron County Sheriff Jeffery Burkett with:
- one count of participating knowingly in criminal street gang activities, a class B felony;
- one count of tampering with a victim, a class D felony;
- one count of attempted kidnapping in the third degree, a class B misdemeanor;
- one count of stalking in the first degree, a class E felony;
- one count of stalking in the second degree, a class A misdemeanor;
- one count of unlawful obtaining of criminal history information, a class A misdemeanor;
- one count of unlawful disclosure of criminal history information, a class A misdemeanor;
- one count of misuse of emergency telephone services, a class B misdemeanor;
- and one count of making a false report, a class B misdemeanor.
The Attorney General’s Office argued that Burkett “abused his power and authority as an elected sheriff by encouraging other law enforcement officers to make illegal arrests and detentions, knowing that he had no jurisdiction or authority and knowing that the arrests and seizures lacked any probable cause or reasonable suspicion.”
The petition further asserted that Burkett’s “actions of utilizing his office and its resources, including two deputies, to further criminal acts and conspiracies, were willful acts of misconduct, malfeasance, and misfeasance, and constitute willful and fraudulent violations of his official duty to enforce the criminal laws of the State in direct violation of Section 106.220, RSMo, and outside his jurisdiction granted by Section 57.010, RSMo.”
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