Rex Barnett


Rex Barnett is an American politician, and former officer of the Missouri State Highway Patrol for 32 years in Troop H.

Political career

After his 32-year Missouri State Highway Patrol career, a Republican, he represented District 4 in the Missouri House of Representatives for four terms. During this time, he sat on committees for criminal law, public safety and law enforcement, and appropriations for corrections and public safety.

Controversy with Matthew Barnett

In 2012, Barnett's grandson, Matthew Barnett, was arrested for the rape of the then fourteen-year-old Daisy Coleman and for having left her unconscious on her family's front porch in severe conditions in Maryville, Missouri, in Nodaway County, and confessed; however, prosecutors declined to pursue charges and the records were sealed despite videotaped confessions, and allegations were subsequently made that Barnett had interfered with the case.
Barnett subsequently denied any involvement in the case, stating that he "knew that any contact whatsoever by with the sheriff’s department or prosecuting attorney — or any witness, as far as that goes — would have been bad for and bad for the case."