Wood

JEFFERSON CITY — Gov. Jay Nixon will appoint state Rep. Dennis Wood, R-Kimberling City, to a position on the Stone County Commission this week, according to Missouri House Speaker Ron Richard.

Richard said Wood will resign and a special election will be held in February, leaving his southwest Missouri constituents without an elected representative early in the next legislative session.

Wood is the chairman of the Tourism Committee, leaving Richard with an open committee post.

Wood achieved some notoriety two legislative sessions ago when he criticized former Speaker of the House Rod Jetton for being the man responsible for the “village law” bill that allowed developer Robert Plaster to seek to create his own village in Stone County. Lawmakers later reversed that law.

Plaster, who is now deceased, had been stymied in his attempts to develop his land by the Stone County commission, where Wood will now serve.