Jonathan Dolan

Jonathan “Jon” Dolan (March 16, 1967) is former Missouri legislator having served the Missouri Senate from 2003 to 2005 and the Missouri House of Representatives from 1997 to 2003. In November 2005, he resigned his seat in Missouri’s Second Senatorial District to become the Executive Director of the Missouri Health Care Association, a long term care trade association in the state that represents skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities and businesses serving the long term care profession.

Dolan was raised in Pearl River, NY, a suburb of New York City. In 1983, he moved to Lake St. Louis, MO with his parents, Joan Dolan Hill of Lake St. Louis and the late Jim Dolan. A 1985 graduate of St. Dominic High School in O'Fallon, MO, he attended the University of Missouri at Columbia where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a commission as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1988. In 1995, he received his Master of Arts in Security Management from Webster University in St. Louis, Mo.

His professional experience prior to the legislature and the Missouri Health Care Association comprises nine years in the security field. He began in retail security management, then served the Central Intelligence Agency as a Special Agent in their Office of Security and finally worked in the private sector as a security systems sales and design consultant. Dolan’s military training includes the Military Police Captain's Career Course, the Public Affairs Officer Course, the Officer Basic Course, Army Basic Training and the Army Airborne School.

He served three terms in the Missouri House of Representatives representing the thirteenth district in West St. Charles County from 1997 to 2003. In 2002, Dolan was elected to represent the people of the second senatorial district which includes West St. Charles and all of Lincoln County. He served in Senate leadership as the Majority Caucus Chairman and was Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee where he led the effort to improve the safety and accountability of Missouri’s statewide transportation system. Dolan was involved in a variety of other issues such as highway safety inititives, veteran’s affairs, healthcare and criminal law. He played a critical role in debate and passage of a wide variety of legislation including, the Missouri Military Funeral Honors program (1998), the Nursing Home Reform Act (2003) and a resolution supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003).

His most noteworthy act as a legislator occurred on September 11, 2003 as the majority Republican legislature was set to override Democratic Governor Bob Holden’s veto on the law establishing the “right to carry” a concealed weapon as well as other laws on lawsuits against gun manufacturers and a 24 hour waiting period on women seeking abortions. Dolan, on active duty at the time in support of Operation Enduring Freedom as a U.S. Army Major in Command of the 70th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Joint Task Force GTMO, Guantanamo Bay Cuba, returned unexpectedly to the capitol on an Army approved leave to cast the deciding votes.

The significant media and political attention resulting from the event began a protracted and precedent setting legal battle regarding the ability of a citizen-soldier-legislator to carry out the duties of his/her respective office while serving on active duty in the armed forces. Later service by other legislators from Missouri and other states indicates the Pentagon took action to brief soldiers and prohibit such action. However, a South Carolina legislator acted similarly in March 2007.

The Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) investigation into Dolan’s leave found it was specifically requested for the purpose of voting. Additionally, he was never advised he could not vote and no public funds from the Army or Missouri were expended on his behalf to do so. Even so, Major General Geoffrey Miller, Commander of Joint Task Force GTMO and infamous for his advice provided during this time to the leaders of the notorious detainee operation at Abu Ghraib Iraq, issued Dolan a Letter of Admonition for not contacting his command minutes before the vote. Dolan resigned his commission on July 4, 2004 the same day the soldiers under his command arrived home safely.

A resident of Lake St. Louis, Missouri from 1993 to 2006, he moved to Jefferson City in June 2006 with his wife Leanne, daughter Hannah and son Jonathan. He is a member of the Missouri Society of Association Executives, the Jefferson City Chamber of Commerce, the Jefferson City Country Club and the Cathedral of St. Joseph.

References

*"Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2005-2006". Jefferson City, MO:Secretary of State,State of Missouri website, Missouri Senate Website, State of Missouri Legislative Bill Tracking System, news clippings from AP, Missouri Digital News, St. Louis Post Dispatch and the Missouri Health Care Association website.