A Trafalgar Town Council member who was charged after assaulting a fellow council member has been offered a pretrial diversion program that will allow him to avoid serving any jail time.
David Moore was charged with disorderly conduct in July after a January incident when he shoved a fellow town council member following a meeting.
Moore was given the option of a pretrial diversion program. Moore signed an "agreement to withhold prosecution" for the charge, which is a Class B misdemeanor.
As part of the agreement, Moore will have to pay a $334 diversion fee and seek treatment for anger management, according to court documents.
Also, Moore must not commit any other crimes. A compliance hearing on the diversion is scheduled for March, according to court documents.
Moore’s charges stem from a January incident when he grabbed council member Jeff Eisenmenger with both hands and slammed him against a wall at the town hall, according to a Trafalgar Police Department report.
A Trafalgar police officer attending the January meeting to discuss the town’s budget said he and Eisenmenger were talking in the hallway after the meeting when Moore approached the two and assaulted and cursed at Eisenmenger, the police report said.
The two started arguing during the public meeting about matters concerning the town’s budget, such as over-spending and employee benefits. Moore suggested Eisenmenger should not have voted on a matter due to a conflict of interest. Eisenmenger responded with a personal comment about Moore’s hospitalization.
Moore is a current town council member, but lost a reelection bid. He term ends next month.
He was offered pretrial diversion because it would typically be offered to other people charged with similar crimes, Johnson County Prosecutor Joe Villanueva said.
Moore’s status as an elected official did not factor into the prosecutor’s decision, Villanueva said.
"While Moore was a public figure, I will not seek to punish him for that more than I would someone who did the same thing who was not in such a public position. Moore was held accountable to the same standard as any other similarly situated citizen would be. Just as it would have been inappropriate to do nothing and ‘sweep it under the rug’ because he was a public official, it would have been just as inappropriate to seek an exponentially harsher sentence for that same reason," he said.
If Moore does not complete the terms of the pretrial diversion program or is charged with another crime, the agreement could be revoked and Moore could face further consequences for the misdemeanor, which could include jail time, community service and probation, Villanueva said. A Class B misdemeanor carries a maximum penalty of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
