Judge Michael Richard Leamer excused himself from a case involving the Republican candidate for Livingston County Coroner.
Online court information shows Judge James Bradley Funk was assigned to 37-year-old Joshua Michael Dennis’s case. Dennis has been charged with misdemeanor committing class four election offenses.
A probable cause statement from Chillicothe Police Officer Whitney Murdock claims Dennis said in a newspaper article he would donate his first-year salary to Livingston County and do the coroner job for free to help cover any cost that may occur from the office moving. He also allegedly promised in a video that he would donate his first-year salary back to the county.
Murdock says Dennis’s statement violates Missouri statute and is allegedly viewed as an inducement to voters.
Incumbent J. Scott Lindley is the Democratic candidate for Livingston County Coroner in the November General Election.
