Missouri
Missouri attorney general candidates discuss IVF, fighting crime, education, defending senators – Missourinet
Two candidates running for Missouri attorney general discussed a variety of topics during a forum Monday. The event was hosted by the Federalist Society.
Republican Will Scharf and Democrat Elad Gross participated in the forum; Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey did not participate.
Scharf, who is on Donald Trump’s legal team, said Missouri is failing on fighting crime. He said the state should be prosecuting more violent crime – not less.
“We have underfunded, undermanned police departments,” said Scharf. “On the prosecution front, you have far too many cases being lost, far too many cases that are never even being brought certainly the way that they should be. Plea deals are out of control and rampant. And lastly, we’re a deep red state with deep blue courts. Our bail laws are far too weak. We need much tougher rules on pretrial detention.”
Gross, who is a civil rights attorney, said reinvesting in the community will get better results, such as stable housing, and boosting job opportunities and education. They both criticized Bailey about his direction on fighting crime.
U.S. Congress is debating whether to protect invitro fertilization access to help women have children. Gross said the state and federal governments should pass these protections for reproductive rights.
“But there’s questions right now about the language to the point where we’ve got Republicans and Democrats in our state legislature talking about passing a law to protect IVF. That’s how extreme we’ve gotten in Missouri,” said Gross.
Scharf said Missouri law does not endanger IVF.
Scharf said the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education should be investigated. He said the state’s educational system should focus on parental rights and student achievement.
“I think we need to understand how this completely unaccountable bureaucracy is so comprehensively failing our students and our families all over the state, and why it’s done so for so long. We have a real problem with government accountability in Jefferson City,” said Scharf. “Deep state bureaucrats, you can call them, a lot of my supporters would, run this state in a way that has left our core governmental functions like education.”
Gross said parental rights belong to parents when it comes to education.
Louisiana has adopted a law which requires public schools there to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Gross said the law is unconstitutional.
“It’s a waste of the taxpayers in Louisiana’s money,” said Gross. “It’s going to be a waste of our money if it comes here. And if you want to spend that money somewhere, just because you want to put it somewhere, put it into civic education, put it into our classrooms, put it on issues that actually matter.”
Missouri Attorney General candidate Will Scharf said putting up a Ten Commandments display in classrooms is constitutional and Missouri should follow Louisiana.
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office is defending three state senators in defamation lawsuits for misidentifying a Kansas City Super Bowl parade shooter. Sens. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, and Nick Schroer, R-Wentzville, posted a photo of a Kansas man on social media, incorrectly stating that he is an undocumented immigrant and the mass shooter. Now, Denton Loudermill of Kansas is suing the ultra conservatives in a Kansas federal court.
Scharf disagrees on the lawsuits in more ways than one.
“The lawsuit itself is garbage. The statements in question weren’t defamatory. They don’t meet the standard for defamation under the law,” said Scharf. “That having been said, I don’t think the AGs office has any role here, and I think that the AGs office should not have intervened. The legal arguments that they’ve made for why they needed to intervene, about protecting Missouri jurisdiction or something like that, are absolute bunk.”
The Missouri Attorney General’s office argue that the senators are protected by legislative immunity because they were acting in their official capacity when they posted their comments.
Gross said state taxpayers should not pay for the legal bills in these cases.
More than 20 people were shot at the celebration and one woman was killed.
Copyright © 2024, Missourinet
MALDEN, Mo. (KFVS) – An investigation is underway after a shooting on Sunday morning in Malden, Missouri.
According to the Malden Department of Public Safety, officers were called to Kimball Street on July 19 for a report of two possible gunshot victims.
When police arrived, they found two people dead. Police later confirmed both people are dead.
Police say there is no known threat to the public and no other details will be released at this time.
Malden DPS, the Dunklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol are investigating.
Copyright 2026 KFVS. All rights reserved.
In the spring of 2021, Cecilia Williams lost her son, daughter-in-law and grandson to a drunken driver.
Williams, who lives in Bonne Terre, is now raising the two orphaned grandchildren who survived, Bentley and Mason.
A year later, Melanie Wankum was hit head-on by a drunken driver, killing her instantly and injuring a passenger on their way back from a wedding.
In both tragedies, families of the victims became advocates on their behalf, championing tougher laws in Missouri against drunken driving.
Soon after the crash that killed her son and his family, Williams found herself in Jefferson City lobbying for a bill that would hold drunken drivers responsible for children left without a parent after an accident.
It would require convicted drunken drivers to pay child support to the surviving children until they are at least 18, or 21 if they are still in school.
Named after Williams’ grandsons, the legislation was introduced in 2021 and signed by the governor five years later on July 9. Tennessee was the first state and Missouri was the eighth to pass a version of “Bentley Law.”
The child-support provision was included this year in Missouri House Bill 1740, which also stiffened other drunken driving laws. The additional provisions have become known as “Melanie’s Law,” to recognize the woman killed in 2022 by a drunken driver in Jefferson City.
Melanie’s Law changed felony classifications for DWI cases that cause injury or death to require longer prison sentences. It also expanded the mandatory use of ignition interlock devices for those involved in alcohol-related incidents. Missouri is one of 35 states with similar laws.
“The pain a family feels when a loved one is killed by a drunk driver is one that never goes away,” said state Rep. Dave Griffith, who sponsored the legislation.
The bill went through a number of revisions before it was passed, Griffith said.
“At each one of those steps, I think we’re very thoughtful about how we can make the bill better and how it’s going to affect the families that suffer and deal with this,” Griffith said.
“Driving while intoxicated is a choice,” he said. “It’s my hope that when people know the ramifications of making those bad decisions they will think twice before getting behind the wheel.”
Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a national organization with offices in Missouri, has been consistently involved in pushing for enactment of the stricter legislation. Working closely with Cecilia Williams, the organization supported the Missouri bill until it passed.
“Cecilia has been dedicated to turning the tragic crash into a way to honor her loved ones, as well as raise awareness of the dangers of driving impaired,” said Tabitha Perkins, state executive director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
“For Missouri, we hope this bill will serve as a deterrent to individuals who drink and drive,” Perkins said. “Knowing that even after they are released from prison, they will still have a financial obligation to complete will make drivers think twice before they get behind the wheel of a deadly weapon in an impaired state.”
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Fire crews battled a house fire Saturday morning in Kansas City, Missouri, that sent an occupant and a firefighter to the hospital.
The Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department responded to a house fire around 10:10 a.m. Saturday in the 100 block of West 85th Street.
KCFD said one occupant was trapped inside the residence. Upon arrival, crews began battling the fire and entered the house to rescue the occupant.
Firefighters located an elderly woman and got her out of the house. She was taken by ambulance to a local hospital in serious condition.
A KCFD firefighter was taken to the hospital for a minor injury.
A dog inside the residence was able to evacuate safely.
The fire department reported the fire was brought under control around 10:25 a.m. City Planning and Dangerous Buildings were requested at the scene.
KCFD is investigating the cause of the fire.
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