Cole County judge to hear arguments in farmland auction lawuit

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Cole County judge is expected to hear arguments Friday in a lawsuit that could derail a farmland auction set for Saturday.

Plaintiffs in the case claim to have a special interest in how the land is handled, according to court documents. Two of the plaintiffs, Mark Knapp and Gary Scheperle, were named in the Lawrence and Mary Renn Trust, which left 178 acres of land in Elston to Cole County.

Plaintiffs argue that the land was left to Cole County to be turned into a park, but the administrator of the trust, Hawthorn Bank, misled the county commissioners in how much money was left in the trust to turn it into a park.

Plaintiffs are asking the judge to remove Hawthorn Bank as an administrator and appoint a new one, and cancel the land auction set for Saturday.

The bank filed a motion to dismiss the case on Thursday, arguing the plaintiffs don't have legal standing because their relationship to Lawrence Renn Jr. is not valid.

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