Public Entity & School Law
General counsel services for Missouri school districts, municipalities, counties, and levy and tax districts, from board governance to contested litigation.
What is public entity & school law?
Public entity law covers the representation of governmental bodies: school districts, cities, counties, and special districts such as tax, levee, water, and fire districts. It includes governance and open meetings compliance, personnel matters, contracting and procurement, land use, bond and finance questions, and the defense of claims brought against the entity.
Representing the entities that run this region
We represent state and local entities: school districts, tax and levy districts, cities, and counties. We advise them toward the best possible outcomes.
This has been core work for the firm for decades. Jerome Brant has served as Clay County Counselor, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, and City Prosecutor for Liberty, and sits on the Missouri Council of School Attorneys. Firm attorneys have served as county counselors, city prosecutors, area judges, and an assistant attorney general.
That record means our public clients get counsel from lawyers who have held the offices they are advising.
Governance and compliance
Board policy and procedure, Missouri Sunshine Law and open meetings compliance, open records requests, conflicts of interest, ethics questions, and elections and ballot matters.
Personnel and operations
Employment matters, contract and tenure questions, due process and termination hearings, student discipline for districts, public contracting and procurement, and construction contracts.
Land, ordinances, and litigation
Ordinance drafting and enforcement, zoning, annexation, condemnation, special district matters, and the defense of claims brought against the entity in state and federal court.
Common questions
What does the Missouri Sunshine Law require of a public body?
Missouri's Sunshine Law establishes a presumption that meetings, records, and votes of public governmental bodies are open to the public. It sets notice requirements for meetings, defines the limited subjects that may be discussed in closed session, and requires that closed sessions be properly noticed and voted into. Those permitted subjects include legal matters, real estate, and certain personnel issues. Because penalties can attach to knowing or purposeful violations, boards benefit from counsel reviewing agendas and closed session procedure as a matter of routine rather than after a complaint.
Do you serve as general counsel to school districts?
Yes. Firm attorneys have represented Missouri school districts for four decades, and Jerome Brant is a member of the Missouri Council of School Attorneys. The work spans board policy and governance, employment and tenure matters, student discipline and due process hearings, special education, contracting and construction, open records requests, and litigation.
Our city needs to update an ordinance. Can you help?
Yes. We draft and revise ordinances and codes, advise on adoption procedure, and handle enforcement questions. Several of our attorneys have served in public roles themselves: county counselor, assistant prosecuting attorney, city prosecutor, and municipal judge. That experience gives our public entity clients advice grounded in how these provisions actually function once they are on the books.
Can one firm represent both a public entity and private clients?
Yes, subject to conflict rules. We screen every new matter against existing clients and decline representations that would place us adverse to a public entity we represent. Where a conflict arises, we tell the client promptly and help arrange substitute counsel.
Talk with a lawyer who knows this community.
Tell us what you are facing. We will point you to the right attorney and explain your options in plain language. No obligation.