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Rules for Missouri Fire Protection Districts

XV. Nepotism: Do Not Appoint Relatives

Parenthetical numbers in the text refer to sections of the current Revised Statutes of Missouri, abbreviated as RSMo.

Nepotism: Do Not Appoint Relatives

  • The law
  • Degrees of relationship
  • Consanguinity and affinity

The law
The Missouri Constitution, in Article VII, Section 6, is direct and to the point on the matter of nepotism: “Any public officer or employee in this state who by virtue of his office or employment names or appoints to public office or employment any relative within the fourth degree, by consanguinity or affinity, shall thereby forfeit his office or employment.” In other words, an official or public employee who appoints a relative loses his or her own office or job. This happens at the time the appointment is made, even if the appointment is to an unpaid position.

The section forbids appointment of relatives. An official who abstains from voting when a relative is under consideration violates nothing. A person would not be in violation if elected to a position that a relative held previously by election or appointment. Also, brothers can be on the board, as long as the voters do the appointing. However, if a district chief hires her son to work at the office, the chief’s job is forfeit, though the improperly appointed son would keep his position. If the rest of the board were to hire the chief’s son for the same job, there would be no violation. It is the use of an official position to appoint a relative that is prohibited.

Degrees of relationship
All relatives have a common ancestor. Degrees of relationship are calculated by counting from one relative back to the common ancestor, then forward to the other relative. First cousins, for example, the children of siblings, would be related in the fourth degree: from A to parent to grand- parent to B’s parent to B. Sisters would be related in the second degree: from one to parent to the other.

Consanguinity and affinity
Consanguinity and affinity are fancy ways of saying, “by blood or by marriage.” A daughter and daughter-in-law count exactly the same. Spouses count as a unit, so that relatives of either are equivalent relatives of both. Whether ex-relatives are considered still related is unclear.


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