Stone County, Mo., presiding commissioner confirmed by Missouri Senate

STONE COUNTY, Mo. (KY3) - The Missouri State Senate has confirmed Gordon Weathers as Stone County’s presiding commissioner after weeks of waiting that came down to a Friday deadline.

The search for a new commissioner began last July when then-presiding commissioner Mark Maples resigned. With the next election nearly a year and a half away, Weathers was one of five people who applied for the position.

The candidates were interviewed by the Republican Central Committee, which voted to recommend Weathers to the governor’s office. Weathers then went through interviews with the governor’s office and was officially appointed in September.

Confirmation process delayed

However, confirmation by a Missouri Senate committee had not been completed because the Senate was not in session. State statute requires the Senate to confirm appointments within 30 days of returning from recess, setting a deadline of Friday, Feb. 6.

“So there are 95 of us that were appointed by the governor while they were in recess,” Weathers said. “When they came back into session, they started interviewing us. I went up three weeks ago and was interviewed by the Senate committee on the governor’s race. And then every week they’ve had a round of interviews.”

The confirmations were delayed when Senate Democrats said they discovered issues with the state’s congressional maps and slowed work to address the problems.

“We’ve discovered quite a few problems to this point on different things, whether it’s been on taxes, whether it’s been on the gubernatorial appointments,” said Sen. Doug Beck, D-St. Louis County. “A couple of them were we had on the floor the other day were from the same district and some other things, and not sure what map they’re using. Are they using the 2025 map or the 2022 map?”

Weathers received word that the Senate committee confirmed his appointment just hours after talking with KY3. If confirmation had not been received by Feb. 6, the county commissioner would have had to restart the process, potentially slowing local business.

“If you don’t have three votes, sometimes if they disagree on a subject, it can be deadlocked, and there’s no way to move forward without that third commissioner in the seat,” Weathers said.

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