Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office withdrew last week from a Cole County lawsuit accusing the Missouri State Highway Patrol of harassment and a “concerted campaign of threats” against companies that profit from video games offering cash prizes.
Bailey, who is seeking a full term in office in 2024, has in recent months accepted large campaign contributions from political action committees linked to Steve Tilley, lobbyist for the two companies that brought the lawsuit against the state — Torch Electronics and Warrenton Oil.
The highway patrol and the Department of Public Safety will now be represented by Scott Pool, a Jefferson City lawyer hired regularly when the attorney general’s office has a conflict of interest and cannot represent a state agency. Reached by telephone Monday, Pool confirmed he was hired because of a conflict but said he was not told the nature of the issue.
Pool is a former assistant attorney general. He will be paid the standard rate for outside counsel, but Bailey’s spokeswoman, Madeline Sieren, would not give an exact amount.
Pool was hired in 2021 to represent Gov. Mike Parson’s office and was paid $140 an hour.
Sieren would not address the nature of the conflict that inspired the attorney general to withdraw from the case.
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