State of Missouri appealing a ruling that it owes over $20 million to the blind

Missouri is appealing a ruling that the state owes $26.3 million to more than 3,000 blind people who were underpaid by the Department of Social Services’ blind pension fund.

Attorney General Josh Hawley’s office filed a notice Monday that it would appeal a Cole County judge’s decision.

The appeal will be the fifth in a decade-long case over a fund that was established in the 1920s to provide a social safety net for the blind.

In 2006, the Missouri Council of the Blind sued the state for using money from the fund for other expenses.

St. Louis University Legal Clinics attorney John Ammann says clients are “really disappointed.”