MU law school dean says decision to step down not linked to lawsuit

UPDATE 5/27: The dean of the University of Missouri Law School says his decision to step down is not related to the lawsuit filed this week related to the state’s Sunshine Law.

This comes after a former state representativefiled a lawsuit against Josh Hawley over an apparent unfulfilled open records request. Hawley is an MU law professor who running for Missouri Attorney General. Myers was also named in the suit.

Dean Gary Myers apparently raised concerns to the university nearly three weeks after Kevin Elmer requested the records. Myers thought a request for Hawley’s tenure application would threaten “the integrity of the University’s tenure procedures,” and hoped the system would keep in mind “these important institutional considerations” when sorting through the documents.

ORIGINAL STORY: A former state representative says he’s still waiting for the records he requested from the University of Missouri and Josh Hawley, one year and nearly $5,000 later.

Kevin Elmer, a former Republican representative from Nixa in southwest Missouri, filed suit against Hawley, an MU law professor running for Missouri Attorney General. Elmer claims he filed an open records request with the University on May 28, 2015 for Hawley’s emails, phone records and documents saved on his work computer. So far, Elmer claims he’s only received a quarter of those emails, and only started receiving them in February.

The lawsuit claims the university allowed Hawley to first review his emails before letting the UM System’s custodian of records, Paula Barrett, begin processing Elmer’s request. While some email correspondences may be exempt from public record, such as personal student information, the lawsuit claims the university broke the law by allowing Hawley that review.

“To have the object of the Sunshine Law request actually determine what the custodian will actually review to produce is suspect, and it’s illegal under the Sunshine Law,” attorney Jane Dueker said, he filed the lawsuit on Elmer’s behalf.

Dueker said the open records request would also illuminate if Hawley received any improper benefits from the school based on when he was granted unpaid leave to run. School employees must request and get unpaid leave of absence to run for public office. While the lawsuit said Hawley received this on September 1, 2015, Hawley’s official attorney general election committee was filed to the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 24, 2015.

Dueker said whether or not Hawley used his work computer in that 39 days would show “if Mr. Hawley continued to use state resources in order to help his campaign or political activity. And to the extent that the University was aware or allowed that, specifically within the law school.”

Dean Gary Myers raised concerns to the University nearly three weeks after Elmer’s records request, according to the petition. Myers thought a request for Hawley’s tenure application would threaten “the integrity of the University’s tenure procedures,” and hoped the system would keep in mind “these important institutional considerations” when sorting through the documents.

Myers did not respond to an email seeking comment Thursday.

Hawley campaign spokesperson Scott Paradise called it an attempt by Senator Kurt Schaefer, Hawley’s opponent for the Republican attorney general nominee, to “muddy” the race ahead of the August primary.

“This is a frivolous to distract voters from Senator Schaefer’s serious legal and ethical problems,” he said in an emailed statement. “Senator Schaefer’s dirty tricks are one more reminder why Missouri voters are disgusted with Jefferson City politicians. After abusing the power of his office to promote his own political career, Senator Schaefer is now trying to abuse the court system. He should be ashamed.”

When asked why he thought Schaefer was behind Elmer’s suit, Paradise said, “These are two Jefferson City politicians that served together as members of the very Jefferson City establishment that seems so threatened by Josh’s outsider candidacy.”

UM System spokesman John Fougere said Elmer’s large request was one of a record 714 open records requests made in 2015.

“For the Elmer request alone, the UM System is reviewing over 10,000 emails and more than 70,000 pages of documents,” Fougere said. “The University is on pace to set another record for requests in 2016, and will continue to follow the law and respond as quickly as possible to all records requests.”

The lawsuit marks another legal turn in the race for Missouri’s top law enforcer. The Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust asked the Missouri Ethics Commission to investigate Schaefer’s behavior with the UM System’s Board of Curators in relation to Hawley’s candidacy.