A Cole County circuit judge has issued a preliminary injunction that prevents three administrative law judges from being forced out. Henry Herschel, Matthew Murphy and John Tackes (pictured) sued in June to prevent Gov. Jay Nixon's administration from dismissing them. While Nixon said they were let go for budgetary reasons, an attorney for the judges says the move violated statutes that lay out a specific dismissal process. In a ruling issued Thursday, Judge Jon Beetem granted the injunction, which "shall remain in effect until a full adjudication of Plaintiffs' claims on the merits or until further order of this Court." (Click here to view a PDF of the injunction.)

Tagged with: administrative law judges

Three administrative law judges contesting their dismissals will get at least a couple more weeks to continue at their posts. Jon Beetem, a Cole County associate circuit judge, issued a temporary restraining order against a bid by the state to ...

Tagged with: administrative law judges Jon Beetem

Three administrative law judges contesting their dismissals will get at least a couple more weeks to continue at their posts. Jon Beetem, a Cole County circuit judge, has issued a temporary restraining order against the state in its bid to lay off three administrative law judges. Without such an order, the three men - Henry Herschel, Matthew Murphy and John A. Tackes - would have been forced to leave their positions by tomorrow.

Tagged with: administrative law judges Henry Herschel Jay Nixon John Tackes Jon Beetem Matthew Murphy

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misspelled attorney John Comerford’s name in two instances. The Daily Record regrets the error. Below is the correct version. Three dismissed administrative law judges have filed a lawsuit against Gov. Jay Nixon’s administration, ...

Tagged with: administrative law judges Henry Herschel Jay Nixon John Tackes Matthew Murphy

Some lawyers questioning authority for terminations

Gov. Jay Nixon on Friday framed cuts his administration made among the state's administrative law judges as a continuation of the policies of previous Gov. Matt Blunt. "They're not Article V judges," Nixon said. "In the last administration they lessened the number of folks in that department already. We felt that continuing to lean that up was appropriate with the budget challenges we face. I'm confident that the remaining commissioners will be able to handle the workload."