Missouri Attorney General Archives

November ballot measure would impose two-term restriction on all Missouri statewide elected officials

September 29, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missourians will be heading to the polls in November, to cast ballots on a measure imposing term limits on all statewide elected officials.

You’ll be voting in November on Amendment One, which would amend the Missouri Constitution to extend the two-term restriction that currently applies to the governor and treasurer to the lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general and state auditor.

A “yes” vote would amend the Missouri Constitution to impose a two-term restriction on all statewide elected officials. A “no” vote would leave the terms that statewide elected officials may serve unchanged.

The Secretary of State’s fair ballot language says that if passed, Amendment One will have no impact on taxes. State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, R-Parkville, sponsored the legislation in the Missouri General Assembly.

Members of both major parties have previously served more than two terms in Missouri statewide office, in recent history.

Democrat James Kirkpatrick served five terms as secretary of state, from 1965 to 1985. Kirkpatrick, who died in 1997, established Missouri’s current record for tenure of an elected statewide officeholder. Democrat Jay Nixon served four terms as attorney general, serving from 1993-2009, when he was sworn-in as governor.

Republican Peter Kinder served three terms as lieutenant governor, from 2005-2016. And Republican Margaret Kelly, who was appointed as state auditor by Governor Kit Bond in 1984, was elected to a full term in 1986 and was re-elected auditor in 1990 and in 1994. She retired in January 1999.

Missouri Senate passes five special session bills to fight crime

September 3, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The Missouri Senate passed five special session bills about crime in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Members spent more than 16 hours on the legislation with the most time being consumed by House Bill 2. It deals with the admissibility of certain witness statements. The slowdown came when Sen. Bob Onder, R- Lake St. Louis, worked to tack on a contentious component that would let the Missouri Attorney General get involved in some St. Louis murder cases.

Sen. Bob Onder, R-Lake St. Louis

After several hours of debate, the measure was tabled. It re-emerged late Wednesday night when Onder gained enough support to call for a procedural motion known as the previous question. The controversial tactic forces a vote on the bill. The Senate voted 22-8 in favor of the proposal.

The effort is expected to face strong resistance in the House. The lower chamber did not take up the measure last week.

During floor debate, Onder said Gardner’s office is severely understaffed and her conviction rate is low. Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, led the charge against the effort to intervene in Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s cases.

“Sometimes the evidence is just not there,” said Nasheed.

“But then when she prosecutes, she loses. How do you explain that, senator,” asked Onder.

Nasheed said Onder’s effort is politically motivated. Some Republicans have blasted Gardner for her handling of the criminal case involving former Gov. Eric Greitens and another one about Mark and Patricia McCloskey. The affluent St. Louis couple were charged with a felony over the summer for pointing guns on their property at protesters walking along their private street.

State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed speaks at the Missouri Capitol on January 23, 2018 (file photo courtesy of Missouri Senate photographer Harrison Sweazea]

“She’s not doing her job. She’s too busy prosecuting the McCloskeys and the former governor while children are dying,” said Onder.

Nasheed told Onder the violent crime problem is not Gardner’s fault.

“This is bigger than her not prosecuting,” she said. “You know what this is about. This is about an African American woman.”

Onder fired back and said skin color has nothing to do with his beef with Gardner.

“It’s appalling to me that the sky falls and it’s Kim Gardner’s fault. You can call him the spin doctor if you’d like. He’s spinning the truth,” she said.

Nasheed told Sen. Andrew Koenig, R- Manchester, the state should not be getting involved in local cases.

“If I decide that I want to put a strip club all throughout your district – in the conservative district – or I want to put an abortion clinic in your district, do you know what you’re going to say to me, ‘I didn’t ask you to do that. Get out of here,’” said Nasheed.

“Yeah, well I’m definitely opposed to abortion,” said Koenig.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner

Nasheed questioned why Missourians are required to complete 40 hours to drive but no training is required to own a gun. She went on to blame Republican lawmakers relaxing gun laws for increased access to firearms in the inner cities.

Nasheed said lawmakers must fix the lack of funding for quality education in St. Louis and lack of job opportunities for vulnerable and poor people.

“We have to deal with the root cause and you cannot keep looking at an ugly tree in your backyard and hitting it from the top and thinking that it’s never going to grow again,” said Nasheed. “You have to pull it from its roots so it never grows again. And the root cause of our problems in the city of St. Louis is not Kim Gardner.”

The legislation passed:

*HB 2 would allow an otherwise inadmissible witness statement if a “preponderance” of evidence shows the defendant engaged in wrongdoing to cause the unavailability of the witness. It also lets the Missouri Attorney General intervene in some St. Louis murder cases.

*HB 66 would create a fund to protect witnesses, potential witnesses and their immediate family members during criminal proceedings or investigations.

*HB 46 would lift a requirement for St. Louis first responders to live within the city.

*HB 11 would criminalize adults who knowingly encourage, aid, or cause a child under 17 years old to commit a crime with a weapon.

*HB 16 would toughen the penalty for selling or giving a firearm to someone under 18 years old to avoid or interfere with an arrest, detention, or investigation of a crime.

Parson calls House passage of 5 special session bills is ‘A win for Missouri’

August 26, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The Missouri House of Representatives did not pass two of seven bills the governor wanted as part of his special session call to address the state’s violent crime rate. During a briefing today, Gov. Mike Parson says he is still pleased about the ones that did pass.

Gov. Mike Parson

The House did not sign off on legislation that would give the Missouri Attorney General jurisdiction to prosecute some St. Louis murder cases.

“Jurisdiction is something I think was very important, that come later on in the session,” says Parson. “I still think anything we can do to address violent crime in this state. And I do want to say, with what we’re doing with session giving the tools that law enforcement needs, that prosecutors need to be able to take violent criminals off the street is a win for Missouri right now.”

Another measure that did not reach the finish line in the House would let judges decide whether juveniles 16 to 18 years old should be prosecuted as adults and possibly go to prison for certain crimes committed with weapons.

“We would have loved to have the juvenile situation – be able to get that done. That was very important to us,” says Parson.

The House did pass legislation that would create a fund to protect witnesses and their immediate family before trial but members did not put money into the fund. The governor told Capitol reporters his office is looking at whatever funding they can get, to get the program started as soon as possible.

Other bills passed in the House would:

* Boost penalties for witness and victim tampering

*Remove a requirement for St. Louis first responders to live within the city

*Toughen the penalty for anyone who sells or gives a gun to a juvenile

*Make it a crime to assist someone 17 or younger to commit a crime with a weapon

The bills head to the Senate for consideration. Senate President Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, says the upper chamber will return next week to finish work on the proposals.

Missouri Representative on special session: “Tough on crime approach does not actually reduce crime”

August 24, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The Missouri House is in session today and is expected to take a preliminary vote on six crime bills. Gov. Mike Parson cites the state’s rising crime rate for calling the current special session.

Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove

Kansas City Democrat Ashley Bland Manlove, the Vice Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, tells Missourinet she has met with the governor about a handful of times over the past year to discuss ways to reduce crime.

“When we asked him to hold a special session last year, he said a special session isn’t enough time to address a heavy issue like violence. And then literally the next year, which unfortunately happens to be an election year, he holds a session on violence. Interesting,” she says.

She says holistic approaches like additional counseling services, surveillance cameras, education funding and social services would help to root out violence – not the bills up for debate today.

“We learned from the 80s that tough on crime does not actually reduce crime,” she says. “You actually have to treat the person and invest in the human capital.”

One of the most contentious bills being considered today would let judges decide whether 16 to 18-year-olds should be prosecuted as adults and possibly go to prison for certain weapons crimes. Another controversial measure would remove a requirement for St. Louis police officers to live within the city. One measure Bland Manlove supports would create a witness protection fund to keep witnesses and their families safe before trial.

A bill absent from today’s lineup is one that would let the Missouri Attorney General get involved in some St. Louis murder cases. Parson expanded his special session call to urge lawmakers to pass the measure.

The Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, with many being Republican members, is strongly opposed to the proposal. The group of 115 prosecutors says it has consistently fought for decades against proposals that would give the state attorney general jurisdiction in local cases.

Other legislators also oppose the plan and accuse the governor of playing political games for going after St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. The governor has publicly condemned Gardner for charging an affluent St. Louis couple with felonies after they pulled out their guns on protesters walking along their private street.

Protesters hit streets of Jefferson City to oppose governor’s special session crime bill

August 13, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Protesters marching down High Street in Jefferson City

Protesters marched the streets in the heart of Jefferson City today to voice their opposition to the governor’s crime package. They walked down High Street in front of the Missouri Capitol and made a pitstop at the Governor’s Mansion. Police were on the scene to try and keep protesters from blocking the streets.

Gov. Mike Parson’s special session crime plan would let judges choose whether children 14 to 18 years old should be tried as adults for certain weapons crimes. It would also allow the Missouri attorney general to prosecute some St. Louis murder cases. Parson says out of at least 161 St. Louis murders so far this year, 33 suspects have been charged.

Rep. Rasheen Aldridge

State Representative Rasheen Aldridge, D-St. Louis, participated in the protest.

“Charge them as an adult because that is how we are going to fix violence – by being tough on crime to individuals that have made a mistake and should be held accountable but you are charging our youngest babies,” says Aldridge. “When does we go to ten? When do we go to nine? What’s going to be next? Eight? Seven? Are we locking up literally babies and putting them in jail with serial killers?”

Missouri Congressional candidate Cori Bush

Cori Bush of North St. Louis County, who defeated longtime St. Louis Democratic Congressman Lacy Clay in this month’s primary election, was among the crowd of protesters. They marched to the Cole County Jail and Bush had a message for law enforcement.

“We are about saving lives,” she says. “And so if you think we want to destroy your property – we don’t. If you think that we want to just disrupt just to disrupt – we don’t. We’re disrupting because you won’t stand up and do the right thing and make sure your work is to save lives.”

The legislation would also scrap a requirement for St. Louis police officers to live within the city and would create a witness protection fund to compel more witnesses to come forward in crime cases.

The Missouri House of Representatives gets back to work next week on the legislation. Three committees have scheduled hearings for Monday afternoon.

New team to track down thousands of untested rape kits across Missouri: “It’s a long time coming.”

February 28, 2019 By Ashley Byrd

The state’s top law enforcement agency does not know how many untested rape kits remain in crime labs and hospital storage rooms across Missouri.

But they have six months to find out.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt (L) Wednesday announces the appointment of M. Keithley Williams, a former Jasper County judge and for the past 11 years, a treatment court administrator in St. Louis.

Attorney General Eric Schmitt tapped Judge M. Keithly Williams to be the state coordinator of the newly-established Sexual Assault Kit Initiative. The program is funded by a $2.8 million federal grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, applied for by the previous state Attorney General Josh Hawley.

Schmitt says his office will hire staff, who have six months to determine how many rape kits remain untested in order to get the remaining 75 percent of the grant.

Williams says this inventory will be very different than the previous “suggested” inventory of 5,400 samples.

“When that inventory, or that suggested inventory, was discovered, about 40 percent of the agencies actually responded to the survey and about 40 percent of the hospitals responded to the survey so we actually don’t know what we’re going to find when the inventory begins,” Williams said Wednesday.

“This inventory will be very different. It’s not just calling and asking ‘how many do you have?’ We’ll actually be helping law enforcement and the hospital staff do a physical count, record the information, have it prepared to put in a database so we will know precisely the location of each untested kit and we’ll know where to begin our task.”

Schmitt says part of the process is finding out from law enforcement why there’s a backlog. Late last year, CNN highlighted the Springfield Police Department for destroying older, untested rape kits.

“We really do want to work in a cooperative way. Testing takes money and that’s part of this grant process too,” he said. “It takes an incredible amount of courage for a victim to come forward and submit to this test–and they deserve to know answers.”

Once they build a database, those involved in a rape case should have access to the information they need: hospitals, police departments and victims who can look up the status of their individual case.

“This is really an ongoing process, we haven’t yet started the planning,” Williams said. “I suspect it’s going to take years, to be honest. It’s a long-time coming.”

Judge rules Missouri is due more tobacco settlement money

May 2, 2014 By Mike Lear

A circuit judge has ruled Missouri is due nearly $50-million more in this year’s tobacco settlement payment.

The office of Attorney General Chris Koster says the St. Louis Circuit Court ruling partially vacates a 2013 arbitration panel decision that cost Missouri about $70-million from this year’s payment.

Koster has notified the independent auditor that calculates the settlement payments to Missouri and demanded that Missouri’s payment be revised to reflect the new ruling.

In a statement Koster says, “This money will provide needed support for state priorities like public education. I thank our dedicated team of attorneys, who have litigated this case for years to ensure that Missouri receives its fair share of the settlement money.”

The 2013 ruling against Missouri stemmed from the allegation by tobacco companies that participated in the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) that many states, including Missouri, failed to diligently enforce state tobacco laws in 2003. Those companies argued they were entitled to withhold a large portion of their payment for 2003 under the terms of the agreement.

22 states settled their cases. The 3-judge panel issued its 2013 decision against Missouri and five other states that did not settle, and ruled that they were responsible not only for their own share of the loss but also for the shares of the states that had settled. Friday’s ruling stems from a suit filed by Koster last fall arguing that reallocating the liability of the settling states onto the six states that didn’t settle violated the terms of the MSA.

Attorney General issues statement on execution of William Rousan

April 23, 2014 By Mike Lear

Attorney General Chris Koster has released a statement regarding the execution Wednesday morning of William Rousan for the 1993 murder of Grace Lewis.

Koster writes, “William Rousan displayed an appalling indifference to human life in the murders of Charles and Grace Lewis. He showed his true character by ordering his 16-year-old son to kill Mrs. Lewis, all so they could steal two cows, soda, a VCR, and some jewelry. Tonight he paid the price the jury recommended nearly 18 years ago. My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Charles and Grace Lewis.”

Three inmates’ attorneys argue against setting of their execution dates

February 24, 2014 By Mike Lear

Attorneys for three men sentenced to be executed have presented their arguments to the Missouri Supreme Court why it shouldn’t set a date for their executions. The Court ordered those attorneys to prepare those arguments in Show Cause orders issued in each case, January 29. The State Attorney General’s Office has responded to two of them.

Russell Bucklew, William Rousan and Cecil Clayton (photos courtesy; Missouri Department of Corrections)

Among the arguments attorneys for William Rousan, Russell Bucklew and Cecil Clayton separately make is that because their clients are plaintiffs in Zink v. Lombardi, ongoing federal litigation regarding Missouri’s lethal injection process, their executions should not proceed until that has been settled. To this point, the Attorney General’s Office argues legal precedent that federal litigation is not a reason not to set an execution date. Joseph Franklin, Allen Nicklasson and Herbert Smulls were also plaintiffs in Zink v. Lombardi when they were executed in November, December and January, respectively.

Attorneys for Clayton argue that he is incompetent to understand his punishment due to a deteriorating mental state, in part because of a head injury 25 years before he fatally shot Berry County Sheriff’s Deputy Christopher Castetter in November, 1996. That injury at a sawmill resulted in the removal of part of the right frontal lobe of his brain. The Attorney General’s Office’s response to the arguments of Clayton’s attorneys is due March 5.

Attorneys for Bucklew, who in 1996 shot Michael Sanders, the presumed new boyfriend of his ex, say he suffers from malformed blood vessels that cause among other things, bleeding from his mouth and eyes, and could increase the risk of a painful or prolonged lethal injection. The state argues that doesn’t merit an indefinite delay in setting his execution date.

Rousan also claims instructions given to the jury at his trial were confusing; an issue the state says the Court and federal courts have already dealt with. Rousan, his son and brother participated in the murder of a rural Bonne Terre couple as part of a cattle theft and robbery.

Missouri is scheduled to carry out the execution by lethal injection of Michael Taylor early Wednesday morning. Taylor is one of two men sentenced to death after pleading guilty to the 1989 murder of 15-year-old Ann Harrison of Kansas City.

On Friday the State Supreme Court set March 26 as the date for the execution of Jeffrey Ferguson for the 1989 abduction, rape and murder of 17-year-old Kelli Hall in St. Louis County.

Both Ferguson and Taylor were among four men for whom the Supreme Court in December ordered attorneys to present arguments why their execution dates should not be set. The others of those four were Roderick Nunley and David Barnett. Nunley is the second man who plead guilty in the murder of Harrison. Barnett stabbed each of his grandparents more than 10 times at their Glendale home before stealing their car and $120 in cash.

Missouri Attorney General investigating propane price hikes

January 27, 2014 By Mike Lear

The Attorney General’s Office has announced it will investigate the cause of the rise in the price of propane gas.

Attorney General Chris Koster acknowledges that he received a request from Senator Mike Parson (R-Bolivar) to conduct an investigation, and says forty consumers have filed complaints with the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division about increases.

Consumers say the price of propane gas has gone from about $1.91 in December to about $5.00 recently.

In a statement Koster says, “Missourians are justifiably concerned about the dramatic increase in propane prices, affecting their ability to heat their homes and care for Missouri-based livestock,” Koster said. “I want to thank Senator Mike Parson and many others who have highlighted this important issue and brought these complaints to our office. We are currently investigating all complaints, and working with businesses and agencies in 9 other states across the Midwest to determine the cause of these price increases.”

On Friday, consumer investigators with the Attorney General’s Office took part in a multi-state conference call with representatives of the propane gas industry. Distributors and analysts say a sharp increase in the export of propane and higher winter consumption have created a shortfall in supplies of domestic propane.