A Missouri state senator is attempting to block Gov. Mike Kehoe’s appointment of Heather Hall to the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, saying Hall cannot provide impartial oversight of the department.
Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Northland Democrat, wrote to Gov. Kehoe this week, saying she believes anyone placed on the board should be independent from the department. Because Hall is also from the Northland, Nurrenbern’s approval is needed before the full senate can vote on confirmation.
“Kansas City is one of the only major cities in America with a state-run police department. Therefore, candidates for this important governing body should be well-respected leaders of the community with an unimpeachable reputation,” Nurrenbern wrote. “It is also vital that the board members are independent of the Kansas City Police Department and can provide impartial oversight.”
Hall, a Republican who proudly calls herself a “police wife” because she is married to a retired KCPD sergeant, took to social media this week, asking for the public to write or call Nurrenbern to help persuade her to change her mind.
“Kansas City, I need your help,” Hall said on a video posted to X. “You know, I’ve been a police wife for over 30 years and law and order has always been important to me. So it’s truly an honor to get to be on the Board of Police Commissioners with so many amazing people.”
Kehoe’s nomination last summer angered many community activists who called it “disrespectful” that no one on the five-member board is from the city’s east side. Four of the five members are appointed by the governor and the mayor always has the fifth seat.
In addition to her advocacy for KCPD, Hall is known for opposing Mayor Quinton Lucas’ failed attempt to insert some local control to the department’s budget, which lost when challenged in the courts. Hall supported removing the Kansas City residency requirement for police officers and her critics say she doesn’t want to hold officers accountable.
On Friday, the governor's Director of Communications Gabby Picard defended Hall’s appointment, saying she’s a “strong, qualified leader who has served the Kansas City community with integrity."
“Since her appointment to the board, Heather has received widespread support, including from members of the law enforcement community, and it is unfortunate that Senator Nurrenbern insists on blocking this appointment,” Picard said.
In addition to Hall’s opposition to local control, members of the Urban League, in a letter to Nurrenbern, also pointed to Hall’s loyalty to the department “against the city’s policy goals, governance authority, and efforts to assert civilian oversight.”
“Effective police oversight requires a willingness to question, challenge, and hold law enforcement accountable when necessary," the Urban Council’s letter reads. “Ms. Hall’s public positions and actions suggest an approach that prioritizes institutional protection over independent oversight, reinforcing a two-tiered justice system in which officers are subject to a different standard of accountability than the communities they police.”
The council’s letter was signed by Gwen Grant, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, Bishop James Tindall, founder and chair of the Urban Summit of Kansas City, Nimrod Chapel, president of the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP, and the Rev. Dr. Vernon Percy Howard, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City.
The letter also said the Urban Council’s members were “deeply troubled by the continued absence of representation from communities east of Troost.”
“These communities bear a disproportionate share of aggressive policing, enforcement actions and the consequences of public safety policy decisions, yet they remain entirely unrepresented at the highest level of police governance,” the letter said. “Confirming Ms. Hall would perpetuate this imbalance rather than address it."
