Judge rules Attorney General lacked authority to order Missouri schools to drop mask rules

The Lee’s Summit School District won its countersuit against the then-Missouri attorney general when a judge ruled Eric Schmitt could not order schools to cease their COVID mitigation efforts.
A Jackson County judge ruled the state’s former attorney general lacked the authority to order school districts to drop their mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision from Judge Marco Roldan on Friday found Eric Schmitt, now a U.S. senator, “exceeded his lawful authority” when he ordered dozens of school districts in December 2021 to rescind measures put in place to mitigate COVID transmission in schools.

“Aside from lacking any authority over locally elected boards of education, the Attorney General’s orders did not follow Missouri law and were therefore without legal force or effect,” Roldan said. “Neither Attorney General Schmitt nor his successor has disavowed the orders, and in fact, the Attorney General continues to insist that school districts lack the very authority granted them under Missouri law.”