Judge rules Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey can be questioned under oath

Attorney General Andrew Bailey speaks at a press conference in the Missouri House Lounge, flanked by House Speaker Dean Plocher, left, and state Rep. Justin Sparks (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications).

A Clay County judge on Friday refused to reverse her order from earlier this month that Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey answer questions under oath about conversations with a local official that may have violated legal ethics rules.

Judge Karen Krauser ordered Bailey to sit for a deposition after it was discovered he and a deputy met with a member of the Jackson County Legislature without the knowledge of the county’s attorneys.

Bailey filed a lawsuit in December over Jackson County’s property assessment process, and the Jackson County Legislature is a named defendant.

The meetings appear to have violated the rules of professional conduct set out by the Missouri Supreme Court, which prohibit attorneys from meeting with individuals involved in a lawsuit without the consent of their lawyer. Krauser ordered Bailey to answer questions under oath about the meetings from Jackson County’s attorneys.

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Jason Lewis, general counsel for the Attorney General’s Office, urged Krauser to reconsider her decision during a Thursday hearing, arguing that requiring Bailey to sit for a deposition could set a troubling precedent .

“The Attorney General’s Office has profound institutional interest that a sitting statewide official cannot be deposed in every case,” Lewis said.

Bailey has argued that Krauser’s order “chills the attorney general’s free-speech rights on the campaign trail,” since the meeting he had with the county official was “a brief, casual meeting between two elected officials and their campaign staffs unrelated to the lawsuit but where, at most, a passing remark was made about the lawsuit.”

The judge did not lay out her reasoning for denying the motion to reconsider her order in the one-page ruling released Friday. She also denied Bailey’s motion to disqualify Jackson County’s attorneys from the property tax case.

Bailey’s spokeswoman said the attorney general’s office is examining all legal options.

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