Gary Dusenberg served three terms in the Missouri House from Jackson County, from 2003-09.
He's earned bachelor's and master's degrees in criminal justice administration and had a 26-year career with the Missouri Highway Patrol, state Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee's Summit, noted in a news release Monday.
Kraus said that background - plus his service as a Marine in the Vietnam War - makes Dusenberg a good candidate to serve on the state's Board of Probation and Parole.
And, Kraus - who has announced plans to run for secretary of state in 2016 - said he has recommended Dusenberg "to the board every year since 2011, to no avail."
"This board is essential to the functioning of our correctional system, and the governor has neglected to do his duty to ensure its smooth operation," Kraus said. "Gary Dusenberg is extremely qualified to be a member of the board, but the governor refuses to appoint him."
Gov. Jay Nixon's spokeswoman, Channing Ansley, didn't comment on Dusenberg, his qualifications or Kraus' release.
She told the News Tribune: "The governor has worked and will continue to work diligently to identify and appoint the most qualified candidates to serve on boards and commissions."
Missouri has more than 200 boards and commissions that oversee various aspects of state government operations and regulate a number of professions.
As of Monday, according to the state's boards and commissions website, boards.mo.gov/UserPages/BoardSearch.aspx, those boards currently are operating with nearly 1,300 positions that either are vacant or filled with people whose terms have ended.
And another 23 positions will expire within the next 60 days.
Those positions don't go vacant automatically, and most of them continue to have people serving in them.
Missouri's Constitution gives the governor authority to "fill all vacancies in public offices unless otherwise provided by law, and his appointees shall serve until their successors are duly elected or appointed and qualified."
So, unless someone resigns their position - as Cynthia Blosser did earlier this year from the Lincoln University Board of Curators - they continue to serve until they are reappointed or replaced.
But for at least the last couple of years, state lawmakers - especially in the Missouri Senate, where most of the governor's appointees must win confirmation before they can serve - have complained Nixon has been slow to fill vacancies.
"Missouri's Board of Probation and Parole is governed by three members with expired terms while one spot remains unfilled, due to Gov. Nixon's failure to update board appointments," Kraus said.
"The governor's failure to keep appointments current on the Board of Probation and Parole is one of many instances in which Nixon has failed to carry out his duties in a timely manner."
Lawmakers have debated bills that would have created vacancies if not filled within a certain period of time after a term expired - but those proposals haven't become law.
Similar complaints about a surplus of vacancies were made during then-Gov. Matt Blunt's term, from 2005-09.
Although some Capitol observers have suggested that finding people qualified for the generally unpaid, volunteer jobs has been difficult, neither Blunt's nor Nixon's administrations ever said they were having trouble finding citizens to serve.
Still, Kraus said: "The governor's negligence is inhibiting state boards from functioning as designed, leaving citizens without proper representation and wasting taxpayer dollars.
"It's unacceptable."