Instilling faith and confidence in voters minds about their state and local officials.  Why on earth would anyone who’s a public official think they could get away with such hijinks?  Or maybe that’s why they do – kind of like the Democrat Dream Team.  From KMOX:

Six Democrats and two Republicans have been arrested. Of those arrests, two Republicans and one Democrat pleaded guilty to or currently face felony charges while the rest ended up with misdemeanors. And the only lawmaker in prison is former Republican Rep. Nathan Cooper, of Cape Girardeau.

Cooper is serving 15-month sentence in a federal prison after pleading guilty to one felony count of visa fraud and one felony count of making a false statement to the Department of Labor.

When it comes to comparing arrests between the Legislature’s two chambers, not surprisingly the more populous 163-member House has had more members arrested by a six to two margin. But a larger percentage of the 34-member Senate 6 percent versus 4 percent has gotten in trouble. Then again, only House members have been charged with felonies.

David Kimball, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said arrests for crimes that would be mundane or ignored if committed by an ordinary person get more attention when a politician is involved.

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