Court Keeps Judge From Distributing Funds To Legal Aid Groups;
Nixon Is Challenging His Authority To Spend Up To $750,000
Virginia Young Post-Dispatch Jefferson City Bureau
The Missouri Court of Appeals in St. Louis has blocked a judge's
proposal to give as much as $750,000 to organizations that provide
legal services for the poor.
Attorney General Jay Nixon sought the order, which was granted
Wednesday on an emergency basis. Nixon wanted to prevent Cole
County Circuit Judge Thomas Brown III from distributing the funds
as early as today.
Nixon's office is challenging Brown's authority to spend the
money. An Osage County judge who heard the dispute sided with Brown
in September, but Nixon is appealing that decision. Wednesday's
action bars Brown from transferring the money until the appeals
court rules.
The funds are part of about $2.75 million in interest that
accrued in several state cases brought on behalf of consumers. The
attorney general contends that the money belongs in the state's
unclaimed property fund.
Brown decided last week to designate some of the money for four
legal aid organizations, including the St. Louis-based Legal
Services of Eastern Missouri.
Nixon's spokeswoman, Mary Still, said the emergency order "was
needed to keep the money in safekeeping, so it could be distributed
to its rightful owners." While legal aid is a worthy cause, Nixon
"doesn't believe the judge has legal authority to give the money to
that cause," she said.
Brown's attorney, Dale Doerhoff, said Wednesday's action was
unnecessary because Brown never intended to distribute the money
until all legal questions about his authority were resolved.
The money is left over from cases involving utility bill
overpayments and an insurance company insolvency. Brown and Cole
County Circuit Judge Byron Kinder used some of the money to remodel
the Cole County Courthouse and to pay additional salaries to
courthouse secretaries.
