Fee office investigation stops

The widely reported investigation was officially unconfirmed until the announcement that the probe had concluded.

The investigation was first reported in April by The Kansas City Star and subsequently picked up by the Associated Press, Springfield Business Journal and news outlets across the state.

Speculation swirled that Gov. Matt Blunt or one of his associates may have committed illegal acts by forming third-party management companies to run fee offices – places where people obtain driver’s licenses and car tags. State Democrats lobbed claims of wrongdoing against the Republican governor, who, like his predecessors, awarded control of fee offices to political supporters.

Cummins, however, said Blunt was never a target of the investigation.

Blunt spokesman Spence Jackson said Cummins’ announcement confirms that Blunt has handled the fee offices with integrity.

See SBJ’s Oct. 16 issue for more on this story.