KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's office said Friday it has filed a lawsuit against Kansas City, Missouri, alleging the city has been slow to respond to a Sunshine Record request.
Earlier this year, Bailey’s office became interested in how much the city had spent in litigating two specific lawsuits (Gwendolyn Grant v Kansas City Board of Police et al, and Lucas v. Ashcroft), the engagement of two specific law firms (WilmerHale LLP and Tueth Keeney), legal proceedings regarding police funding outlined in Missouri statutes and any litigation related to police funding outlined in the Missouri constitution.
Bailey’s request requested records covering those issues dating back to Jan. 1, 2021.
Although not individually named in the lawsuit, Bailey’s lawsuit covers three requests made on March 3, 2025, to Mayor Quinton Lucas, former City Manager Brian Platt, and the city’s Finance Department.
Bailey’s office says that as of April 17, the city had not responded to its demands with a cost estimate within a 15-day window that the city originally said it would. Bailey’s office says the city has not provided an update on any possible delay.
Bailey’s office hopes a judge rules that the city is in violation of the Sunshine Law, requires the city to produce the records and pay Bailey’s office for the fees incurred in the lawsuit, among other requests.
“Missourians have a right to know how their money is being spent - and my office will not stand by while public officials try to hide the truth,” Bailey said in a press release Friday. “Transparency is a fundamental obligation under Missouri law.”
Lucas called Bailey's lawsuit "ongoing legal harassment."
"Having defeated Andrew Bailey at the Missouri Supreme Court and elsewhere, the mayor will trust the legal process to resolve expeditiously this matter, and hope that Mr. Bailey returns to his primary job of addressing crime in Missouri, rather than his ongoing and one-sided fixation with the mayor," Lucas said in a statement.
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