Ray County Sheriff Scott Childers resigns in settlement with Missouri attorney general

Former Ray County Sheriff Scott Childers has resigned from his position and lost his state peace officer certification as part of a settlement with the state of Missouri announced Monday.

In a video posted to Facebook Monday morning, Childers confirmed he had stepped down from elected office, saying there was no use in fighting a lawsuit brought by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey since he had failed to advance out of the Aug. 6 Republican primary. The matter was scheduled to go to trial in Ray County Circuit Court Sept. 9.

“I had to put what was best for my family’s interest first, and that’s not to keep spending money on something that really doesn’t matter at this point,” Childers said.

As part of the settlement, Childers agreed to permanently surrender his state peace officer certification, and agreed he would not seek certification again or a job in law enforcement in Missouri in the future. Bailey’s office agreed to dismiss the lawsuit and to not seek criminal charges.

In an email to The Star Tuesday, Mike O’Connell, a spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Public Safety, confirmed Childers’ license status is now “surrendered,” which he said was the equivalent of a permanent revocation. Childers can never work work as a law enforcement officer in Missouri again, he said.

Childers had been temporarily removed from office while Bailey’s office sought to permanently remove him over allegations that Childers allegedly allowed incarcerated people to leave jail, perform work for friends and acquaintances and smuggle in drugs, alcohol and other contraband.

“This outcome is a major win for the residents of Ray County who have been forced to watch the perpetrators of their crimes roam freely in their communities due to the negligent actions of those sworn to protect them,” Bailey said in a statement.

“I am extremely proud of the work my team put into removing another official who refused to do their job as required by Missouri law. We will continue to fight for Missourians across the state by holding bad actors accountable,” Bailey said.

In his video, Childers denied the allegations, saying there was no proof that “alcohol, women and drugs were being provided, none of that was proven, nor did that ever happen. If anything like that happened, it was without my acknowledgement.”

Even after he was removed from office earlier this year, Childers campaigned to be re-elected to the seat, but came in second out of three candidates in the primary earlier this month. Childers drew around 35% of votes cast, while Gary Blackwell earned about 51%.

Childers took office in 2021.