The minority leader of the Missouri Senate has filed a misconduct complaint against the Attorney General over a federal redistricting lawsuit.
Sen. Doug Beck, D-Affton, filed the complaint last week, saying Attorney General Catherine Hanaway did not have the right to list the entirety of the Missouri General Assembly as a plaintiff in the case.
In the complaint, Beck says Hanaway is in violation of several attorney rules, saying she “neither obtained consent from the Missouri General Assembly to represent it in this lawsuit, nor sought any action from the Missouri General Assembly to participate in the objectives of such a suit.”
“Although this lawsuit names the Missouri General Assembly as a plaintiff, I had no knowledge of the Attorney General’s intent to initiate such suit prior to its filing,” the complaint reads.
The Attorney General’s office could not be immediately reached for comment.
The federal lawsuit in question is against the attempt to overturn Missouri’s new congressional map through a referendum. The referendum would require the map be voter approved if enough signatures are gathered.
The lawsuit says the referendum “would strip the General Assembly of its authority over redistricting.”
Speaking earlier this month on a letter he sent Hanaway about the same issue, Beck said a vote is required to be in a lawsuit like this.
“We never had a vote. And we think that quite possibly, that's an illegal action by the Attorney General, and we really want some answers on why this happened,” Beck said.
Beck is requesting the Office of Chief Disciplinary Council open an investigation into Hanaway’s representation of the General Assembly.
The council is an agency of the Missouri Supreme Court responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct by lawyers.
