SECOND REGULAR SESSION
97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES BRATTIN (Sponsor), MARSHALL, WILSON, POGUE, MOON AND BAHR (Co-sponsors).
ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT
WHEREAS, the people of the State of Missouri cherish their right to bear arms, as protected by the Missouri Constitution and the Constitution of the United States; and
WHEREAS, in November 2011 and again in January 2013, the Missouri Highway Patrol released the full list of the more than 163,000 Missourians who have concealed carry endorsements to the federal Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of Inspector General based only a verbal request for such information; and
WHEREAS, in response to the verbal request by the federal Office of Inspector General, the Missouri Highway Patrol asked for and received the full list of Missouri's concealed carry endorsement information on a disc from the Division of Motor Vehicle and Driver Licensing within the Department of Revenue; and
WHEREAS, while the verbal request by the federal agent violated Social Security Administration protocols, the release of the entire database of concealed carry endorsement information was a clear violation of Section 571.101, RSMo, which at the time of the November 2011 and January 2013 releases stated in relevant part:
"571.101. 8. ... An applicant's status as a holder of a certificate of qualification or a concealed carry endorsement shall not be public information and shall be considered personal protected information. Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection by disclosing protected information shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor."; and
WHEREAS, Governor Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon's administration maintained that the releases were legal and done to aid a federal investigation into disability fraud related to mental illness claims; and
WHEREAS, such federal investigation was designed to compare the concealed carry endorsement list with a list of Social Security recipients to determine whether any endorsement holder who met the mental health qualifications for a concealed carry endorsement had also sought benefits for a mental illness; and
WHEREAS, Andrea Spillars, the Deputy Director of the Department of Public Safety, testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee in April 2013 that the sharing of information among law enforcement agencies was legal and common. She also testified that "There's nothing in the law that prevents (a federal investigator) from getting that information in batch form" and that the agency could release the information again legally to federal investigators; and
WHEREAS, the release of the full database does not fall under an acceptable law enforcement function because it was not limited to specific named persons that the Social Security Administration were investigating, but was an intelligence gathering activity involving an entire group of persons who were not named individuals under federal investigation, which constituted a serious abuse and violation of their right to privacy; and
WHEREAS, in March 2013, a Missouri citizen was denied his concealed carry permit after being told by a Department of Revenue license office that it would make digital copies of documents needed for a permit to carry a concealed weapon; and
WHEREAS, at the time of the denial, the Missouri Department of Revenue had installed new computer equipment that records certain information as a part of the federal Real ID Act of 2005, in violation of state laws prohibiting the Department from implementing the federal Real ID Act and which require that concealed carry endorsement data be kept confidential; and
WHEREAS, for weeks, the Department of Revenue repeatedly denied that it was implementing Real ID or turning over concealed carry endorsement information. Only after the discovery of the scanning and retention of certain concealed carry documents did the Department of Revenue later admit that it had twice turned over the entire database of concealed carry endorsement information to the Highway Patrol and was, in fact, scanning and retaining certificates of qualification for concealed carry endorsements; and
WHEREAS, in early April 2013, Governor Nixon stated unequivocally, "This State of Missouri is not collecting a bunch of unuseful data to send to some sort of magical database someplace to mess with people. It's not happening."; and
WHEREAS, on April 16, 2013, Governor Nixon announced that the Department of Revenue would no longer scan or retain certificates of qualification for concealed carry endorsements and stated, "It has been determined that the scanning and retention of concealed carry certificates are not essential to the integrity of the license issuance process."; and
WHEREAS, these violations of state law, the unlawful infringement on and abuse of the personal privacy rights of concealed carry endorsement holders, the delay in government agencies in revealing these violations, and the lies told by government agencies surrounding these violations demanded swift investigation and decisive action by Governor Nixon to hold accountable those government agencies and employees who engaged in unlawful actions; and
WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution states:
"The governor shall take care that the laws are distributed and faithfully executed, and shall be a conservator of the peace throughout the state."; and
WHEREAS, Article VII, Section 1 of the Missouri Constitution states:
"All elective executive officials of the state, and judges of the supreme court, courts of appeals and circuit courts shall be liable to impeachment for crimes, misconduct, habitual drunkenness, willful neglect of duty, corruption in office, incompetency, or any offense involving moral turpitude or oppression in office."; and
WHEREAS, after his discovery of such serious violations and unlawful actions by government agencies and employees, Governor Nixon's failure to immediately discipline or dismiss those persons responsible for state law violations and those responsible for the subsequent delay in admitting such violations constitutes a willful neglect of duty by Governor Nixon to ensure that the "laws are distributed and faithfully executed" under Article IV, Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution; and
WHEREAS, Article VII, Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution vests the sole power of impeachment in the House of Representatives:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Missouri House of Representatives, Ninety-seventh General Assembly, finds, charges, and presents that Governor Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, while so acting as the Governor of the State of Missouri, failed to immediately discipline or dismiss those members of the executive branch in the Missouri Highway Patrol and Department of Revenue responsible for twice releasing personal protected information regarding concealed carry endorsements to a federal agent in violation of state law, and failed to immediately discipline or dismiss those members of the executive branch responsible for unlawfully scanning and retaining concealed carry endorsement documents by the Department of Revenue, constituting acts which are impeachable acts under Article VII, Section 1 of the Missouri Constitution, and that by doing such aforesaid acts Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon was and is guilty of the commission of willful neglect of duty; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Missouri House of Representatives adopts the following:
ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT
ARTICLE I
That the Missouri House of Representatives under the authority of Article VII, Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution does find, charge, and present that Governor Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, while so acting as the Governor of the State of Missouri, contrary to the standards of conduct prescribed for an elected executive official of the state, committed an act impeachable under Article VII, Section 1 of the Missouri Constitution, in that, Governor Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, after his discovery of serious violations of state law and unlawful actions by government agencies and employees, knowingly failed to immediately discipline or dismiss those members of the executive branch in the Missouri Highway Patrol and Department of Revenue responsible for twice releasing personal protected information regarding concealed carry endorsements to a federal agent in violation of state law.
That by the doing of the aforesaid act, Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon was and is guilty of willful neglect of duty, an impeachable offense under Article VII, Section 1 of the Missouri Constitution, and that such act has shaken the faith and confidence of the citizens of the State of Missouri in their ability to have faith in their elected public officials, and has breached the public trust that the laws of this state will be faithfully executed.
ARTICLE II
That the Missouri House of Representatives under the authority of Article VII, Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution does find, charge, and present that Governor Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, while so acting as the Governor of the State of Missouri, contrary to the standards of conduct prescribed for an elected executive official of the state, committed an act impeachable under Article VII, Section 1 of the Missouri Constitution, in that, Governor Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, after his discovery of a serious violation of state law and unlawful actions by government agencies and employees, knowingly failed to immediately discipline or dismiss those members of the executive branch responsible for unlawfully scanning and retaining concealed carry endorsement documents by the Department of Revenue.
That by the doing of the aforesaid act, Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon was and is guilty of willful neglect of duty, an impeachable offense under Article VII, Section 1 of the Missouri Constitution, and that such act has shaken the faith and confidence of the citizens of the State of Missouri in their ability to have faith in their elected public officials, and has breached the public trust that the laws of this state will be faithfully executed."; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that upon impeachment by the House of Representatives, Governor Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon shall stand trial before a special commission of seven eminent jurists to be elected by the Missouri Senate in accordance with Article VII, Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution for willful neglect of duty; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare properly inscribed copies of this resolution for Governor Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, the Missouri Supreme Court, and the Missouri Senate.
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