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It was a request to transfer $30,000 from the prosecutor鈥檚 鈥渂ad check fund鈥� to a salary account.

Hedgecorth, a Democrat who lost last week's election to Republican John Jones after 11 years in office, planned to 鈥渟upplement鈥� three of his employees鈥� salaries to the tune of $10,000 each. That鈥檚 what he told the county clerk in an email a few days later, asking that the checks be cut.

鈥淧lease pay the following amounts to adjust/supplement the following three employees鈥� salaries for the remainder of November and December,鈥� he wrote.

The Post-Dispatch obtained the documents through public records requests.

On Monday, the Washington County Commission hit pause on what looked like an attempt by Hedgecorth to reward his staff members with bonuses before a new boss took over. After discussing Hedgecorth鈥檚 request in a closed meeting, the commissioners asked the county clerk not to make the payments and sought legal advice.

鈥淲e have no intention of paying it unless we are forced to,鈥� Commissioner Doug Short told me Wednesday. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just willy-nilly go hand out $10,000.鈥�

There is a provision in Missouri鈥檚 Constitution聽鈥� Article III, Section 39聽鈥� that disallows 鈥渆xtra compensation鈥� in the form of bonuses for state employees. Long ago, the Missouri attorney general鈥檚 office issued an opinion saying the prohibition applies to all public employees in the state. The Missouri state auditor's office has regularly criticized such payments when they have been found in government agencies. The University of Missouri, for example, had an incentive pay system for executives but scrapped it in 2017 after a state audit.

Hedgecorth, though, defended the planned payments in a phone interview with me Wednesday afternoon. They aren鈥檛 bonuses, he said, but payments for work that hadn鈥檛 yet been done in November and December. He pointed out that the fund gets its money from defendants in bad check cases who pay restitution to the courts. The statute that created the fund gives prosecutors wide latitude to use the money on expenses in their offices.

鈥淭hese are not taxpayer funds,鈥� the prosecutor said of the bad check fund.

鈥淭his is not payment for services rendered in the past. These are discretionary funds,鈥� Hedgecorth added.

He argued that public officials, in Washington County and elsewhere, regularly make changes to public employee salaries for a variety of reasons. 鈥淣o one would be saying a word if it was $1,000. The amount shouldn鈥檛 matter, if it鈥檚 a dollar or $100,000. Is it legal? It鈥檚 always been done before. I think my people deserve this.鈥�

The county commissioners disagree. So does the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services. That office advises prosecutors across the state. On Wednesday, it told Washington County officials who had asked about Hedgecorth鈥檚 bonus plan that such payments were not lawful.

Jones, who will take over the prosecutor鈥檚 office in January, said he found the planned payments to be 鈥渁n inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars. I am disappointed in Mr. Hedgecorth. Bonuses ought to be off limits.鈥�

After defending his plan to me, Hedgecorth later had a change of heart. He called back and blamed the situation on his political enemies.

鈥淚鈥檓 getting attention right now because people don鈥檛 like me. They鈥檙e trying to make something out of nothing,鈥� Hedgecorth said.

He also said he talked to his three employees, who decided not to go through with the payments.聽

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 anything illegal about it, but it鈥檚 not worth going through all of the attention that this has garnered. We all just want to move on with our lives," Hedgecorth said. "I'm just going to call the whole thing off.鈥�

By late Wednesday afternoon, Hedgecorth told the clerk to cancel the payments. It was the prudent decision. Otherwise, he could have given "bad check" a new meaning.