Former Joplin R-8 Board member receives suspended sentence for DWI

Former Joplin R-8 Board of Education member Phil Willcoxon received a suspended sentenced and was placed on unsupervised probation for two years today after pleading guilty in Newton County Circuit Court to a misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charge.

Judge Gregory Stremel also ordered Willcoxon, the director of the Ozark Center and former CEO of Freeman Neosho, to pay $116.50 in costs and fines.

The Missouri Highway Patrol arrested Willcoxon, 47, an official at the Ozark Center in Joplin and former CEO of Freeman Neosho Hospital, at 9:50 p.m. Friday, February 14 on Coyote Road.

The citation indicated that Willcoxon exceeded the blood alcohol content, though it does not say by how much.

Willcoxon served two three-year terms on the Board of Education, first being elected in April 2008. He did not choose to seek a third term and left the board in April.