Osete named as Secretary of State general counsel

Jesus A. Osete has been appointed as general counsel to the Secretary of State‘s Office.

Osete, formerly the deputy solicitor general and deputy attorney general for special litigation in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, succeeds Frank Jung, who has served as the office’s top lawyer since Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft took office in January 2017. Jung is retiring from state government with 32 years of service on June 30.

Earlier this year, Osete argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in a challenge brought by Missouri and other states that challenged a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers. The court heard the case the same day it considered a separate challenge to a mandate requiring private businesses to vaccinate or test employees.

“We’re excited to have Jesus join our staff,” Ashcroft said in a statement. “He is a skilled lawyer with excellent experience in both state government and private practice. He will greatly benefit our office.”

Prior to joining the attorney general’s office, Osete was at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner’s appellate and Supreme Court group. He previously clerked for Judge Bobby E. Shepherd of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and for then-Chief Justice Zel M. Fischer of the Missouri Supreme Court.

Osete earned his law degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

Jung spent 14 years in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office after earning his law degree from Michigan State University in 1989. He also has served as the deputy general counsel at the Office of Administration and general counsel for the Missouri Gaming Commission, Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich and the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services.

“We are indebted to Frank for his service to our country and to the state of Missouri,” Ashcroft said. “Frank is invaluable and my office owes him thanks. He spent his career as a public servant, and for that we are grateful and wish him well in retirement.”