The Missouri Department of Revenue confirmed today that Marilyn Hohulin, wife of former State Representative Bubs Hohulin will operate the Lamar License Bureau.
According to a department news release, the current office will close at the end of the business day on Monday, May 16. It will reopen under Mrs. Hohulin's direction on Wednesday, May 18.
Office hours will be 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the last Saturday of each month.
Governor Matt Blunt came under fire earlier when Bubs Hohulin was named in a Department of Revenue news release, first carried in The Turner Report, as the operator of the Lamar fee office.
The appointment immediately came under fire from state Democrats because Hohulin already has a well-paying government job as an assistant to State Senator Carl Vogel, R-Jefferson City.
The Democrats filed a complaint about the appointment with the Missouri Ethics Commission. The complaint was dismissed, but only because it appears Hohulin was never officially appointed by the governor. A DOR official told The Joplin Globe that Hohulin would not be getting the fee office, never mentioning that instead the governor would award it to Hohulin's wife, a technicality that allows him to give Hohulin the rewards while technically avoiding the ethics charge.
The appointment of Hohulin has even come under strong criticism from Barton County Republicans, who were not consulted about the choice, and who would not have chosen either Hohulin, GOP sources have told The Turner Report.