Missouri: Legal fight rages on over coroner’s inquest into teenager’s death

FAYETTE — The Missouri Supreme Court could be tasked with interpreting the state’s open record laws, Judge Scott Hayes of the 14th Judicial Circuit Court said on Wednesday.

The legal question at hand is whether or not Howard County Coroner Frank Flaspohler is considered a law enforcement officer under the Sunshine Law. If Flaspohler’s office is a law enforcement agency, he would be exempt from making public records from an inquest into the death of Kenneth Suttner.

“No one will listen to a thing I say until the court of appeals makes its ruling,” Hayes said in court Wednesday.

No clear timeline was established Wednesday as to when the Supreme Court might hear the case. Read more…