MADELINE RAINERI | Community Relations Manager

Art Johnson filed a court petition to expunge his criminal record on Jan. 25, a week and a half before being named interim president. 

In 1998, Johnson was ticketed for a misdemeanor, failing to register deer meat before May 1. The ticket was issued by Boone County on May 19 of that year. 

If the petition is granted expungement requires the records of that earlier charge be sealed, making the records unavailable through the state or federal systems. 

According to Dan Zarlenga, media specialist of St. Louis for the Missouri Department of Conservation, failure to register is a violation of the Wildlife Code of Missouri. 

“These laws are in place to keep hunting legal, conserve the deer population and ensure the rules of fair chase, and give all citizens a fair chance to hunt,” Zarlenga said.  “The premise here is that the state’s wildlife resources belong to all citizens in Missouri and must be managed and protected in the public trust.” 

Johnson, 64, took the action two days after Lindenwood’s executive board met and discussed taking action to terminate former president Michael Shonrock. 

In the petition, Johnson asks that his record be expunged because of the length of time that has passed since he was charged, and that since then he has not been charged with any other misdemeanors or felonies. 

Johnson’s lawyer, William Goldstein, could not be reached for comment. 

Lisa O’Brien Enger, vice president of university relations, acknowledged that Johnson was ticketed, but she said: “we are focusing on the priorities of the university moving forward, and those priorities are finding a new president.” 

“Art is interim president, and he’s really trying to get us focused on moving forward and focused on those priorities so we are not going to address a ticket that was received by him from 20 years ago,” O’Brien Enger said.