The POWER List: John ‘Woody’ Cozad

Cozad Company

Republican lawmakers aren’t wild about lawyers, but when Woody Cozad speaks on their behalf, it’s hard not to listen.

Cozad, whose clients include The Missouri Bar and the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, served as chairman for the Missouri Republican Party from 1995 to 1999. He served in several capacities under former Republican Govs. John Ashcroft and Kit Bond, including as chairman of the Missouri Health and Educational Facilities Authority, chairman of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission and as a member of the University of Missouri Board of Curators.

Cozad’s conservative bona fides have helped the bar to push back against a years-long effort to change the Nonpartisan Court Plan. That effort culminated in an initiative petition in 2012 that failed at the ballot.

Cozad also has served as a spokesman for a campaign opposing Kansas City’s earnings tax, which is imposed on people who live or work within the city.

Prior to his lobbying career, Cozad practiced with the firm then known as Stinson Morrison Hecker for more than 20 years. He earned his law degree in 1972 from the University of Missouri.