BOSTON — A Massachusetts state lawmaker has been missing in action and out of contact since being federally indicted on fraud charges in April, prompting his entire district to call for his resignation.

Yarmouth has become the third and final town in Chris Flanagan’s Cape Cod district to vote to send a letter to the Democratic representative, urging him to step away from his post. Brewster and Dennis had already issued their requests.

Federal authorities arrested Flanagan on charges he stole tens of thousands of dollars from a former employer, covered up the thefts, and then used the money to pay personal bills and fund his campaign for elected office.

Flanagan has not been seen publicly since he pleaded not guilty to the accusations during a court appearance in April. He did not appear in the House’s yearly budget debate, failing to participate in recorded votes and file amendments to the chamber’s fiscal year 2026 spending plan.

The two-term representative, earning $82,044 in the role, faces conditions that he either maintain his current employment or actively seek a new job.

“You can stay employed, but you don’t need to be employed on the tax dollars if you’re not doing the job,” Yarmouth Select Board Chairwoman Tracy Post said. “Find employment elsewhere if you’re not willing to go to the State House and make votes on behalf of your constituents.

“We have a job to do, that we’re elected to do,” Post added. “If we just don’t show up after so many meetings, there’s a way by which people can remove you from office.”

Post’s colleague Liz Argo said she tried to call Flanagan ahead of the board’s Tuesday meeting, but she got no answer after being met by a full mailbox. That’s an issue that Select Board members in Yarmouth and Brewster also raised: Flanagan has refused to answer telephone calls and emails.

“For me, that was plenty,” Argo said. “That’s not how you behave as the representative.”

As part of Flanagan’s job as a state lawmaker, he sits on four legislative committees, including the Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity Committee.

Scores of politicians immediately called for Flanagan to resign from his post after his arrest, including Gov. Maura Healey and Sen. Julian Cyr, a Provincetown Democrat who said he was “alarmed and saddened to hear” the charges against the lawmaker.

House Speaker Ron Mariano, however, had said calls for Flanagan to resign before his court case is resolved were “premature.”

An initial status conference in the case scheduled for May 22 had been pushed back to Wednesday, but a federal magistrate judge delayed the hearing, again, to July 23.

Prosecutors accused Flanagan, a Democrat who won a second term in November, of orchestrating a “multi-faceted scheme” in which he allegedly stole $36,000 from the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Cape Cod between November 2021 and January 2023.

“While your innocence on these charges is presumed, we expect much of your time and energy will be spent defending yourself in this matter and not working in our interest,” states a portion of the Brewster Select Board’s letter.

The Dennis Select Board added in its letter, which it sent earlier this month, that Flanagan needs to go, and he is not meeting their needs.

“We need a representative in the state legislature who can effectively intercede with state boards and commissions,” the letter states, “to ensure efficient planning, resolutions of issues and keeping us abreast of upcoming state funding sources and grants. “

“Unfortunately,” it continues, “that cannot happen when no one is sitting in the seat representing us in the legislature.”

_____

©2025 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at bostonherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.