ST. LOUIS -- A man claims that the Kennett City Council unlawfully demolished a property owned by him.
Jack Ratliff filed a complaint on June 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri against the City of Kennett; its council members Nick Weatherwax, Roger Wheeler, Kay Collins, Kent Freeman, and Kenny Wilson; individually and in their official capacities as members of the Kennett City Council; Bob Hancock as former mayor and ex-officio member of the Public Safety Committee; Victor Mode, individually and as City Code Enforcement Officer; and Tri-State Excavation.
According to the complaint, in 2016 Jack Ratliff was the owner of a house and lot located at 209 Maple St. that was a rental property but was unoccupied at the time. Ratliff claims the house was structurally sound and posed no threat to public health, safety or welfare of the residents of the neighborhood.
At some point, Victor Mode, the Kennett code enforcement and inspector, identified Ratliff’s house as a dangerous building and therefore a nuisance, but did not serve Ratliff with any time of notice to fix the house, the suit says.
A hearing was held on April 26, 2016, without Ratliff having been informed and no public notice put into the paper, the suit says. It is during that hearing a motion passed to demolish the home, the suit says.
On June 9, 2016, Mode allegedly posted a building permit sign on the property marked in black marker saying demolition. On June 11, Ratliff came to 209 Maple St. to mow the yard and discovered the sign. Ratliff alleges that he went to find out more information and get the demolition stopped to no anvil. On Saturday, June 25, 2016, Ratliff went to 209 Maple St. to mow the yard and discovered had his house had been demolished and the debris removed. Ratliff later received a bill for the demolition, the suit says
Ratliff seeks a settlement of $500,000 as compensatory damages and $500,000 as punitive damages plus attorney fees and cost of suit. Ratliff is represented by Jim R. Bruce.