Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's office has finalized a settlement agreement with Ray County Sheriff Scott Childers, who had been temporarily removed from his position while Bailey’s office pursued litigation to remove him from his post permanently after he broke Missouri law.
As per the settlement, Childers resigned from his position effective August 19 and has been stripped of his Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certification. Childers will not be allowed to serve in Missouri law enforcement ever again.
“This outcome is a major win for the residents of Ray County who have been forced to watch the perpetrators of their crimes roam freely in their communities due to the negligent actions of those sworn to protect them,” Bailey said in a press release. “I am extremely proud of the work my team put into removing another official who refused to do their job as required by Missouri law. We will continue to fight for Missourians across the state by holding bad actors accountable.”
In the lawsuit filed earlier this year, Bailey alleged Childers failed Ray County residents when he engaged in willful acts of misconduct, malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance in office. Bailey specifically noted that Childers:
* Unlawfully allowed multiple detainees (including those accused of sexual assault) to leave or be released from the Ray County Jail.
* Stated on social media his plan to use detainees to work at his home or other businesses.
* Allowed released detainees to work on his property and the property of friends and acquaintances.
* Allowed detainees to drive vehicles, make purchases at local stores, leave the state, and move freely about Ray County without supervision.
* Permitted detainees to bring contraband (drugs, alcohol, cellphones, etc.) into the jail. This included weapons, including 20 knives found in the jail during a search.
* Received or accepted a benefit in exchange for keeping pretrial detainees in the jail.
Due to Bailey achieving what he was pursuing in litigation, his office said it will dismiss the quo warranto.
Childers posted a video on Facebook announcing his resignation. In the video, he said "there was no use to keep fighting the quo warranto" after he lost the Republican primary election earlier this month to Gary Blackwell.
"Effective immediately this morning, I am no longer the sheriff of Ray County," Childers said in the video. "I've turned in my resignation. The reason for that is due to the fact that I did not win re-election."
Childers also denied the allegations in the video and said none of the allegations in Bailey's lawsuit were proven.
“I had to put what was best for my family’s interest first, and that’s not to keep spending money on something that really doesn’t matter at this point,” Childers said, adding there was no proof that “alcohol, women and drugs were being provided, none of that was proven, nor did that ever happen.
“If anything like that happened, it was without my acknowledgement. I’ve always done things the right way, I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but I’ve admitted to those.”
Childers took office in 2020.