CLAYTON — St. Louis County Circuit Judge John Ross on Friday denied a motion to remove Rhea Willis from her post as a director of the Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District.

Last week, the prosecuting attorney's office asked the court to remove the troubled board's other member, Robert Edwards, alleging Edwards had conducted district meetings without a quorum and majority vote of the board.

Edwards' response included a request to remove Willis. But assistant prosecuting attorney Bart Calhoun argued that Edwards and board attorneys Elbert Walton Jr. and Bernard Edwards Jr. lacked standing to make that request, and Ross agreed.

The prosecuting attorney's office is seeking to have Edwards ousted with a "petition in quo warranto," a rarely used legal action that challenges a person's right to hold public office. Only the state prosecuting attorney's and attorney general's offices have the authority to take such action. A hearing in Edwards' case has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday.