Franke reinstated as 3rd Ward council member in Hannibal after judge rules mayor violated due process with suspension

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Tenth Judicial Circuit Presiding Judge Rachel L. Bringer Shepherd ruled June 27 the City of Hannibal violated the constitutional right of due process for 3rd Ward council member Stephan Franke when it suspended him in January.

Mayor James Hark brought impeachment charges against Franke that resulted in his suspension, citing Section 18.08(g) of the Hannibal City Charter that provides for immediate suspension of an official upon the filing of any impeachment charge.

Franke filed a civil suit May 20 against the City of Hannibal, Hark, Hannibal City Clerk Angel Zerbonia, Municipal Judge Donald Bastian and five members of the Hannibal City Council — Charles Phillips, Mike Dobson, Darrell McCoy, Colin Welch and Jeffery Veach.

Shepherd wrote in her ruling that the clause in the charter violates the due process clause of the U.S. and Missouri constitutions, as the action “suspends an official, and in this case, leaves a city ward without representation, merely upon the accusation of wrongdoing.”

Shepherd ordered the city to reinstate Franke as 3rd Ward council member, pending the outcome of impeachment proceedings, which have been delayed several times and are not yet rescheduled.

She also said in her order that home rule charter cities have the right to conduct impeachment proceedings against elected officials. She also noted Section 18.08(f) of the Hannibal City Charter says, “The rules of criminal procedure shall apply throughout the (impeachment) hearing.”

Shepherd wrote that provision refers to the Missouri Rules of Criminal Procedure, which provides for many protections for the accused in a hearing, including (but not limited to) the right to subpoena witnesses, the order of trial, discovery and the duty of the judge to provide written instructions to the jury.

Joe Bednar, an attorney with the Jefferson City firm of Spencer Fane LLP, is representing Franke in the case as co-counsel with Neil Maune of Hannibal and Peter Riggs of Kansas City. Bednar said Hannibal city officials have not allowed Franke to examine many public documents, emails or texts, or interview potential witnesses against him. Shepherd ruled that was improper.

“We get to go through and depose any of the potential witnesses that they might call against (Franke),” Bednar said. “We get access to various records of the city, and the city wouldn’t let us have any of that. They fought us. We were sending out deposition notices to key people, and they fought us and said we don’t have a right, that it’s only an administrative proceeding and they don’t have to give us anything until the trial.”

Hark alleges Franke violated his oath of office while acting in his capacity as a City Council member by physically assaulting two female city employees. The articles of impeachment, written by Hark, say Franke grabbed the arms of both women “in a non-consensual manner,” causing pain to one woman.

The articles also state that in his actions as councilman, “Franke has made statements to female employees of the city which constitute sexual harassment, and which created a hostile workplace” for Zerbonia, City Manager Lisa Peck and former city employee Edie Graupman during the past year.

The city charter calls for the impeachment process to be presided over by Bastian, who the City Council elected by a 4-2 vote in October 2017. He received “yes” votes from Hark, Welch and Dobson, while Veach voted no.

Hark cannot vote on the impeachment because he wrote the articles of impeachment. The remaining five council members are eligible to vote, and conviction requires a two-thirds majority — which means four of the five must vote to impeach.

Special prosecutor Nicole Volkert from Paris, Mo., is representing the city in the case. The city hired Volkert after City Attorney James Lemon said it would have been a conflict of interest for him to be involved. Attorney Robert Jones from St. Louis is representing Hark, Bastian and the five City Council members.

Franke said in a press release he looks forward to returning to City Council and bringing greater transparency and accountability to City Hall and the offices of Zerbonia and Peck.

He said he is committed to “demonstrating his innocence” of the allegations in the impeachment, which he believes are retaliation against him resulting from his December request that a third-party human resources consultant come in and do objective exit interviews of those who report to Zerbonia and Peck.

Franke, a Chillicothe native, has lived in Hannibal since January 2017. He ran opposed for election to the 3rd Ward in the spring of 2021.

Franke serves as director of business strategy for the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Komets, a team in the ECHL (former East Coast Hockey League), a mid-level professional ice hockey league. His brother, Michael Franke, is the president and co-owner of the team. Another brother, David Franke, is the vice president, general manager, director of hockey operations and co-owner of the team.