The Latest: First lady thanks residents before departure

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on the resignation of Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (all times local):

10:30 a.m.

Missouri first lady Sheena Greitens is thanking the state's residents ahead of her husband's resignation as governor.

Sheena Greitens, who is married to Gov. Eric Greitens, tweeted Friday morning that, "it has been an honor & privilege to serve as First Lady of my adopted state."

During her husband's tenure she pushed for reforms to the state foster care system, and the Legislature passed several changes in May, including extending the amount of time agencies have to keep abuse records.

She is an assistant political science professor at the University of Missouri.

Gov. Eric Greitens will resign at 5 p.m. Friday amid mounting investigations into his personal and private life. Mike Parson, the state's lieutenant governor, is set to take the oath of office soon after.

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10 a.m.

A Missouri judge has ordered outgoing Gov. Eric Greitens to direct his staff to preserve evidence on their phones for a lawsuit over the use of a secretive messaging app.

Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem also ordered Greitens' office to compile a list of staffers who downloaded the Confide app, their phone numbers and usernames. The deadline is Friday at 1 p.m.

At issue is a lawsuit filed by an attorney who argues that top governor's office staff violated the state's records-retention laws by using the app. The app automatically deletes messages after they are read and prevents recipients from saving, forwarding, printing or taking screenshots of messages.

Beetem issued the order late Thursday, a day before Greitens is set to resign. The judge says the goal is to help in gathering evidence for later use in the lawsuit.

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12 a.m.

Missouri is getting a new leader as its scandal-plagued governor steps down, elevating the lieutenant governor to the top job.

Republican Gov. Eric Greitens has said he will resign at 5 p.m. Friday.

Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Parson is to be sworn in shortly thereafter during a low-key ceremony in the governor's office.

Greitens' resignation is part of a deal with the St. Louis prosecutor to drop a felony charge alleging misuse of a charity donor list to raise money for his gubernatorial campaign.

Greitens also had faced the prospect of legislative impeachment. And he still faces the potential for a special prosecutor to refile a charge alleging sexual misconduct in an extramarital affair.

Parson will serve the remainder of Greitens' term, which runs until 2021.