ST. CHARLES COUNTY • A countywide smoking ban won't be on the November ballot, but a proposal for a county police department will go to voters, judges ruled Tuesday.
The ruling on the smoking ban won't be appealed, but the losing party in the police ruling said he planned to ask the Missouri Court of Appeals to hear the case.
St. Charles County Circuit Judge Ted House ruled against an anti-smoking activist who tried to force County Elections Director Rich Chrismer to put a smoking ban package on the ballot. Chrismer testified that the language in the propositions passed by the County Council was inconsistent with the ballot wording.
In his ruling, House noted the "apparent flaws in the ordinances," but said he denied putting it on the ballot because it failed to comply with proper procedures. Those require that the ordinances be available to the public 36 hours before the council meeting or that they be read in their entirety at the meeting. Testimony was presented that neither was done.
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In another courtroom on Tuesday, Circuit Judge Nancy Schneider decided to leave on the ballot a council-advanced proposal to set up a county police department. The new agency would take over law enforcement in unincorporated areas from the sheriff's department. An elected sheriff would remain in charge of court services and security.
In that case, A.C. Dienoff of O'Fallon, a frequent candidate for office who monitors county issues, filed the suit.
Dienoff also attacked the process used to pass the ordinances, but Schneider ruled that although the issues raised concern, they were not enough to remove the proposal from the ballot.
Dienoff also said the proposal was unconstitutional because it did not include the costs to implement the change, and that the language was vague and misleading. Schneider ruled against Dienoff on both points.
The lawsuit to force the smoking ban package back on the ballot was filed by Don Young of St. Charles, a throat cancer survivor and former smoker who has crusaded for such laws across the metro area.
His attorney, Thomas Taylor, said Young would not pursue an appeal.
Dienoff, who represented himself, said he will continue to fight to have the police measure removed from the ballot.
