Missouri Lawyers Media Missouri legal news and public notices

Warren Hearnes – a southeast Missouri attorney who became the first governor to serve two consecutive terms – died on Sunday evening. He was 86. Hearnes’ feat was made possible under a 1968 constitutional change. Among other things, that change ...

The city of St. Joseph filed a lawsuit in Cole County Court last week to prevent the enforcement of a law the municipality says will drain roughly $300,000 out of general revenues. At issue is a provision in a wide-ranging ...

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As chief of staff to Attorney General Chris Koster, Robert Kenney assisted in hiring people for positions that became vacant after Jay Nixon took many longtime staffers of the office to the executive branch. But in a somewhat ironic move, ...

Tagged with: Chris Koster Jay Nixon Public Service Commission Robert Kenney

Gov. Jay Nixon appointed Attorney General Chris Koster's chief of staff to be a commissioner for the Public Service Commission. Robert Kenney (pictured), who joined the attorney general's office late last year when Koster was transitioning into statewide office, was tapped to join the commission that regulates Missouri utilities. He will replace Commissioner Connie Murray, whose term expired. The appointment of Kenney provides a jolt of sorts to Koster's administration. Previously a partner at Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus, Kenney was one of the first people Koster hired onto his staff.

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Better Courts for Missouri is targeting a new audience in its efforts to dismantle the state’s Nonpartisan Court Plan – Missouri voters. Last week the Jefferson City-based organization announced plans to place an initiative on the 2010 ballot that asks ...

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Gov. Jay Nixon made his final decisions on passed legislation last week, bringing an effective end to the lawmaking portion of the 2009 legislative session. Lawmakers will return to the Capitol later this fall for the General Assembly’s annual veto ...

Tagged with: DNA Jay Nixon public defenders

Gov. Jay Nixon has vetoed legislation giving public defenders greater control over their caseloads. Under the provisions of the bill, the director of the public defender system would have been able to notify the court in certain circumstances that the public defender is unavailable, leaving any person who is eligible for services on a waiting list. The measure was seen as the biggest legislation affecting the state agency that provides defense for indigent clients.

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Gov. Jay Nixon signed the so-called “omnibus judiciary bill” into law without ceremony Friday. The legislation includes an array of alterations to the state’s court system: A provision redacting Social Security numbers and other identification information in certain court documents; ...

Gov. Jay Nixon signed a number of bills Thursday related to crime prevention, including legislation prompting officials to take DNA samples from individuals arrested or booked for certain offenses. Nixon signed a law requiring individuals over the age of 17 arrested or booked for assorted felonies to provide a DNA sample to law enforcement officials. Individuals arrested for burglary, sexual offenses and child pornography would be affected by the law.

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A Cole County circuit judge has issued a preliminary injunction that prevents three administrative law judges from being forced out. Henry Herschel, Matthew Murphy and John Tackes (pictured) sued in June to prevent Gov. Jay Nixon's administration from dismissing them. While Nixon said they were let go for budgetary reasons, an attorney for the judges says the move violated statutes that lay out a specific dismissal process. In a ruling issued Thursday, Judge Jon Beetem granted the injunction, which "shall remain in effect until a full adjudication of Plaintiffs' claims on the merits or until further order of this Court." (Click here to view a PDF of the injunction.)

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Lawyers waiting for new issues of Oklahoma Digest or the Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report to arrive at the Supreme Court Library have been out of luck for quite some time. Those publications are among an array of periodicals and treatises that received the ax at the Jefferson City facility at the beginning of the decade. The library has been underfunded for years and has continued to remain afloat by cutting hardback subscriptions and sometimes reverting to online options. The library was set to receive some relief this year when the Legislature allocated $100,000 worth of federal stimulus money, but Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed the appropriation.

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