St. Louis mayor pleads for state to take over legal costs for police

Kurt Erickson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Mar 3, 2026

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Mayor Cara Spencer called on Missouri lawmakers this week to reject legislation that would take state taxpayers off the financial hook for misconduct lawsuits involving the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

Speaking Monday at a Senate committee hearing in the Capitol, Spencer said a bill requiring the city to bankroll police department litigation costs could hurt a slew of other city services at a time when the state has taken control of the police department.

“As mayor, I have the duty to balance the needs of our citizenry,” Spencer told the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee. “This legislation ... introduces significant financial burden for the city of St. Louis.”

The legislation and an identical version pending in the House are part of the fallout from Gov. Mike Kehoe’s successful push last year to strip the mayor and aldermen from oversight of the city’s police department.

The change to a state-controlled board has prompted the city to argue it no longer is liable for any settlements or judgments because the law transferred that responsibility to the state.

“It’s my strong belief that the litigation decisions should reside with the entity that is paying the tab,” Spencer said.

Senate Bill 1657, sponsored by Sen. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, would enshrine the city’s responsibility in law.

“This is an attempt to clarify a couple of issues they are seeing as they roll out the Board of Police commissioners changes,” Fitzwater said.

At issue is a dispute that has left an estimated 70 lawsuits currently in state and federal courts in legal limbo as attorneys and judges wait for clarity over who will pay damages in police-related cases.

Judges have sided with plaintiffs in those cases that St. Louis is responsible, regardless of the new state law. U.S. District Judge Josh Divine ruled last year, for example, that the city is responsible for liabilities.

The mayor’s plea comes as she is warning that the Police Board budget unveiled last week could force layoffs throughout the rest of city government, including the Street Department and garbage collection.

Spencer called the $261 million police spending blueprint a “slap in the face” that could cripple the city by spending tens of millions of dollars more on police operations, leaving less for other services.

The board budget includes line item increases of more than $30 million for police salaries and more than $20 million for facilities, equipment and other long-term infrastructure.

Police Board leaders say higher pay is needed to fill hundreds of officer vacancies that have opened in recent years and that those officers deserve to work in first-class facilities.

Under terms of the takeover, the city is obligated to fund the board's budget request, regardless of its effect on other departments.

In addition, the city and Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway's office are negotiating an agreement that could address questions about liability without changing state law.

That pact could address whether the city pays lawsuit costs for the 12-year period it was in control of its police department, while putting the state in a position to pay for litigation while it controls the board.

State Sen. Barbara Washington, D-Kansas City, told members of the panel she intends to block the lawsuit legislation from going forward because she believes the state should pay for litigation against the police department if it wants to control the department.

“I’m going to kill the bill,” said Washington, who could employ a filibuster on the Senate floor to try to run out the clock on the proposal.

Washington echoed Spencer, saying the proposal means other city agencies will be held liable for problems in the police department.

“They all have to pay for the misdeeds of the police department,” Washington said.

Spencer asked committee members to put the bill on hold for a year so the city and state can work through the transition period of moving to state control. That follows a request from Democrats in the House last week to delay action on House Bill 3066 while the attorney general's office and the city are engaged in talks.

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