Herschel Young, Cass County commissioner, might lose job because of old felony conviction

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It hasn’t been a particularly good couple of months for newly minted Cass County presiding commissioner Herschel Young. Sure, he hung 10 on the Republican wave and landed his new gig. But a funny thing happens when you run for public office: People tend to look into your past.

In Young’s case, that meant the discovery of a guilty plea to a Class C felony in 1995. He served probation for slugging a man who, he says, spat on his wife. Not exactly a shocking thing to do or really a deal breaker if Young wanted to be, say, a line cook or professional baseball player. It is, however, a deal breaker if you run for political office. A Missouri statute bans convicted felons from holding elected office. Bummer.