CLAYTON, Mo. – A recent oversees trip, paid for by taxpayers, is part of what FOX 2 recently found during a records search. A $1,739 trip to Hawaii caught our attention. It was among five out-of-town trips the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office took, according to the results of our Missouri Sunshine Law request.

The prosecutor’s office spokesman, Chris King, claimed that each trip was necessary.

“There’s an approval process. If you saw on the documents, our chief of staff signs off, and then the county executive signs off,” he said.

The Hawaii trip involves a rape case in which the defense attorney required in-person depositions from the victim.

“The victim moved from University City to Hawaii of all places. As you know, the defense has a constitutional right to confront – and to a direct confrontation,” King said. “We were prepared to do this by video conference and save everyone time, trouble, and money, but the defense insisted.”

Our records request also found out-of-town trips to Dallas, Texas, where two assistant prosecutors attended a Crimes Against Women conference for a total of $4,347.44. King said the trip was part of crucial training for two attorneys who had just joined the sex crimes unit.

“If you want to keep your bar license, you have to keep educating yourself,” King said.

FOX 2 first requested prosecutor travel records after seeing rumors on social media that taxpayers paid for a prosecutor to go to Barbados. Those rumors turned out to be false. A prosecutor reportedly made an extravagant overseas trip but paid for it herself.

FOX 2 contacted Sam Alton, the former chief of staff for the prosecutor’s office, about the matter.

“It’s not true. And that person—she’s a wonderful attorney. She heads a unit and it’s a shame,” he said.

Alton believes the false rumor arose from the politics of choosing top prosecutor Wesley Bell’s successor. It’s a decision that St. Louis County Executive Sam Page made right as we were conducting these interviews.

“Someone should have been kind of named and been handling everything on the ground in the office or at least training to do it for a while now,” Alton said.

Alton was rooting for someone already working in the prosecutor’s office to get the job.

Instead, Page named federal prosecutor Cort VanOstran for the post. The appointment must still get board approval. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is also challenging Page’s authority, saying it’s the governor’s job to make the selection.

King reacted to the news of VanOstran’s nomination within seconds of it coming down.

“I don’t think Sam Page had an easy choice to make,” King said. “I think there were a lot of good candidates for the job and a lot of different candidates. So, it’s an interesting choice. If Cort is the choice, I’d love to work with him.”