The City of St. Louis and the president of the Board of Aldermen are suing over some aspects of a new Missouri law that gives a state board control over the city's police department instead of the mayor.
"While a favorable judgment won’t overturn state control, it would address sections of the law that, left unchecked, set a dangerous precedent,” Board of Aldermen President Megan Green said.
In a federal lawsuit filed Monday, the city and Green are targeting two parts of the law. The first provision prohibits officers of the city like Green from “impeding, obstructing, hindering, or interfering with the state board.”
“If the state board were to take actions that Green believed were illegal, were unjust, or were contrary to the interests of the city, Green would be subject to monetary penalties and disqualification from office if she peacefully protested the actions of the state board or participated in political associations challenging actions of the state board,” the lawsuit states.
The suit also challenges a section requiring the city spend a percentage of its budget on the department, contending it’s an unfunded mandate that runs afoul of the state constitution.
Even though voters approved a constitutional amendment last year carving out police departments under state police board control from state prohibitions on unfunded mandates, the lawsuit contends it wouldn’t apply to St. Louis.
“Prior to the state takeover law, the city was not subject to a minimum police funding requirement, and therefore, the imposition of new minimum police funding requirements is not authorized by [the Missouri Constitution],” the lawsuit states.
Last-minute filing
The lawsuit’s timing is notable, since St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones is leaving office Tuesday and will be replaced by Alderwoman Cara Spencer. Like Jones, Spencer is opposed to having a gubernatorial board in charge of the police department but said she wanted to confer with legal experts about whether to file a lawsuit.
A spokesman for Jones declined to comment, citing pending litigation. A spokeswoman for Spencer’s transition team said she was checking to see if the mayor-elect had a response to the suit.
In a statement, Green said she was a party to the lawsuit “to make certain that our First Amendment rights are protected so elected officials can continue to advocate for residents and do our jobs without fear of retaliation while also protecting the financial interests of our city."
A spokeswoman for Gov. Mike Kehoe, Gabby Picard, said the governor had no comment, citing the pending litigation. She did add that Kehoe will soon appoint “a transition director to lead the implementation of the St. Louis City Board of Police Commissioners.”
“In the coming weeks, Governor Kehoe will appoint members to the Board,” Picard said.
State Sen. Nick Schroer, R-St. Charles County, handled the legislation in the Senate establishing the gubernatorial board for the police department. He said he needed to read the lawsuit before commenting.
“Knowing the former mayor and the board of aldermen that campaigned on defunding police, it was just a matter of time before they flailed and tried to stop this,” Schroer said.
