KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt missed a deadline to respond to a motion to dismiss his case against the Lee's Summit Schools District over their COVID-19 policies. Schmitt cited "excusable neglect" as his reason for missing the deadline.
The district filed a motion to dismiss the attorney general's case on Feb. 25, giving Schmitt a March 10 deadline to oppose the motion.
The attorney general's office missed that March 10 deadline, so the district asked the Circuit Court of Jackson County to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice.
Schmitt's office filed a response to the dismissal motion on March 14, past the deadline, and said the failure to respond before the deadline was a "result of excusable neglect."
The attorney for the Lee's Summit School District responded to the attorney general's motion by saying his office "failed to offer the Court any explanation for why he missed that deadline, and has therefore failed to establish excusable neglect."
"The Attorney General’s motion and supporting affidavit provide the Court with no basis upon which to draw such a distinction, or to decide whether his negligence (if that was the reason for the default) should be excused," the response said. "By not giving the Court an explanation for why he missed its deadline for responding to the District’s motion, the Attorney General has failed to satisfy his burden of proving excusable neglect."
