Franklin Tatro was kicked off the ballot and forced out of the race for Lee's Summit City Council because he is a convicted felon. Now Tatro is planning a new campaign to convince state lawmakers that despite his felony conviction 20 years ago, he should be allowed to run for elected office.
Twenty years ago, Tatro admits that he took a company car out of state and was convicted of stealing. He completed parole.
"I'm working now, I have a job, I have a small IT business, I have a home and a car, I've changed," explained Tatro.
State law forbids anyone with a convicted felony in any state from running for elected office in Missouri. Tatro wants to change that.
"My felony was in the past, my life was in the past, it's the past. It's a mistake, I get that; but I thought, well, why not give back to the citizens of Lee's Summit what I can do for them," said Tatro.
He said he signed the Declaration of Candidacy document knowing that he was a convicted felon.
"Employers and applications ask if you were convicted of a felon in the past seven years," said Tatro.
Prosecutors found out he was a felon and took Tatro to court. Tatro agreed to drop his candidacy. Now Tatro said he has contacted the ACLU and is looking for a lawyer so he can get state law changed.
"What if I could make a way for people like me to run for office, to be in office, so my motion forward is to run for office with a past knowing that I am a good citizen," said Tatro.
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Cynthia Newsome can be reached at Cynthia.Newsome@kshb.com.
