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You might remember her as the clerk in Rolla who told the Phelps County Commission late last month that she was going to erase from the voting rolls any disabled person who has a court-ordered guardian, even if a judge previously preserved their right to vote.

Mark Murphey is such a person. His parents, who grew up in St. Louis, told me how devastated their son would be if he lost his right to vote. I wrote about him. The day after the column ran, Grow told the County Commission she was no longer going to take away the voting rights of people like Murphey.

So I emailed her and asked her what changed?

“Do I have to supply you with a reason?� she wrote me. “No, I do not.�

To be sure, Grow’s email box was full of folks not very happy with her intended voter suppression and her implication that somehow, mentally disabled folks aren’t as valuable as voters as other people who “are working hard, paying their taxes, and voting.�

Murphey works hard at the sheltered workshop in Rolla. He pays his taxes. He votes. Lots of residents told Grow she had no right to take away his vote.

“Who are you to deny him that court-bestowed right?� wrote one person. I filed a Sunshine Law request for the emails sent to Grow on the matter. “I’m thoroughly disgusted with your overreach,� wrote another. “Your cruelty to voters is a sickness,� wrote one more. “Get some help.�

Needless to say, the Murpheys are happy that their son, and other disabled folks in Phelps County, will not have their voting rights trampled. “Our family continues to be overwhelmed by the outpouring of support we received from throughout the Rolla community and across the state. We’ve been deeply moved by all of those who have reached out to us to offer help and contacted Mrs. Grow to oppose her unconstitutional voter suppression. We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who worked to right this wrong, including many people we will never know,� Mark’s parents, John and Ann, told me in an emailed statement.

Still, they’re not resting on their success. The Murpheys have hired former Gov. Jay Nixon, a lawyer with the St. Louis firm of Dowd Bennett, to represent them, just in case Grow changes her mind again. The Murpheys have a natural connection to the former governor, as another of their sons, Sam, worked in Nixon’s communication office several years ago.

Nixon is in the process of writing a legal opinion that he expects the Murpheys will share with other parents in the disabled community, and perhaps a few county clerks, to make sure they are aware of the law.

Grow believes there is a disparity between the Missouri Constitution and state law which creates confusion about the rights of some disabled people to vote. But Nixon says he agrees with voting rights attorneys who maintain that a 2007 federal appeals court decision makes it clear judges have the right to preserve voting rights for disabled people who end up with guardians. Nixon was the attorney general when that decision was issued.

, in which retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor sat on the appeals court panel, said, “ Missouri probate courts retain the authority to preserve a ward’s right to vote as part of the statutory mandate to minimize deprivation of a ward’s liberty.�

In Murphey’s case, after a hearing, a judge preserved his rights to both vote and marry. Nixon said he is prepared to go to court, if necessary, to make sure Murphey can keep voting.

“We feel confident about the law,� Nixon said. “Mark is going to vote, and people like him are going to vote, and we’re going to make sure that happens.�