Eric Schmitt

In January 2020, Schmitt successfully prosecuted a murder case in the City of St. Louis. The jury returned a quick verdict finding Antonio Muldrew guilty of first-degree murder for shooting and killing Ethiopian refugee Abdulrauf Kadir at a convenience store in 2014. This was the first time a Missouri attorney general prosecuted a murder case in the City of St. Louis.

In March 2020, Schmitt filed a lawsuit against televangelist Jim Bakker and Morningside Church Productions, Inc. for misrepresentations about the effectiveness of "Silver Solution" as a treatment for COVID-19.

On April 21, 2020 Schmitt filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, on behalf of the State of Missouri against the Chinese government, Chinese Communist Party, and other Chinese officials and institutions, alleging that their actions to suppress information, arrest whistleblowers, and deny the contagious nature of the 2019 novel Coronavirus led to loss of life and severe economic consequences in Missouri. Missouri is the first state to sue China over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Schmitt served in Senate Leadership as Majority Caucus Chairman and was Chairman of the Jobs, Economic Development and Local Government Committee. He also served on the Committee on Gubernatorial Appointments; the Committee on Judicial, Civil, and Criminal Jurisprudence; Veterans’ Affairs and Health Committee; and Chaired the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.

In August 2019, Schmitt withdrew a legal brief that argued that the First Amendment allowed government officials to withhold records from a Sunshine Law request, following criticism from transparency advocates who noted that the brief did not cite any case law. A Freedom Center of Missouri representative raised concern that the argument is similar to a case involving governor Mike Parson, which Schmitt had not yet ruled on.

In 2019, Schmitt spoke in defense of a Missouri high school coach who was being pursued by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The foundation accused the football coach of violating the U.S. Constitution by leading students in prayer before and after games. In a letter, Schmitt said he would support the coach, school, and school district in a lawsuit if necessary and noted no one was forcing students and players to participate in prayer in public spaces.

In September 2019, Schmitt and Attorneys General from throughout the U.S. launched an antitrust investigation against Google. The bipartisan group of state Attorneys General accuse Google of prioritizing searches for companies that advertise on the search engine platform.

The Safer Streets Initiative was unveiled in January 2019 by Schmitt to help get violent criminals off the street faster. The initiative is designed to address violent crime in St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield, which have been ranked in the Top 15 for per capita violent crime rates. Schmitt says this is the first partnership in the country between the Missouri Attorney General's Office, U.S. Attorney's Office and various local law enforcement units to address violent crime.

Schmitt launched the Missouri FIRST initiative in March 2018. Missouri FIRST (Financing Investment in our Rural, Small Business and Technology communities) was aimed at allowing Schmitt to invest more in Main Street Missouri by revamping the state's linked deposit program, which partners with local lenders to provide low-interest financing to small business and agricultural operations. The changes implemented through Missouri FIRST focused on cutting red tape, expanding access and modernizing the linked deposit system.

Schmitt was appointed to the office of Attorney General of Missouri by Governor Mike Parson to succeed Josh Hawley, who was elected to the United States Senate in 2018. Schmitt took office in January 2019.

Prior to the passage of federal tax reform in December 2017, MOST 529 plans were limited to higher education expenses. Included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was language that allowed states to expand their programs to K-12 tuition, which Schmitt implemented in Missouri.

In 2016, Schmitt sponsored a bill (S.B. 572) that set a limit on the percent of revenue that Missouri local governments could obtain from non-traffic fines (such as fines for violation of city ordinances). Existing state law had set a revenue limit on the percent of revenue that municipalities could obtain from traffic fines The bill passed the state Senate in a 25–6 vote in January 2016.

Following the unrest in Ferguson, Schmitt identified that too many municipalities were too reliant on fines to fund their budgets. He led the bipartisan legislative effort to bar cities, counties and law-enforcement agencies from setting traffic-ticket quotas as well as taxation by citation. Schmitt worked with Democratic Senator Jamilah Nasheed and others on the legislation, which passed the state Senate in February 2016 and was enacted into law.

Schmitt did not run for re-election to the Missouri State Senate in 2016 because he was term-limited. Instead, Schmitt filed to run for Treasurer of Missouri in the 2016 elections. Schmitt ran as a Republican and was unopposed in the Republican primary. He defeated opponents Democrat Judy Baker and Libertarian Sean O'Toole in the general election.

In addition, Schmitt worked to enact the federal ABLE Act, to provide 529 savings account opportunities to families with children with special needs, to cover their future costs and allow them to be more financially independent and self-sufficient. The Missouri ABLE program allows anyone to make a tax-deductible contribution of up to $8,000 for an individual or $16,000 for married couples to another person's ABLE account. The bill sponsored by Schmitt was signed by the Governor in 2015.

In 2014, Congress passed the Stephen Beck Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act to allow eligible individuals with disabilities to save money while still allowing those individuals to be eligible for federal needs-based benefits. In June 2015, then-Senator Eric Schmitt passed the state legislation, making the state a leader in the ABLE movement. Missouri ABLE was launched in April 2017.

Schmitt was absent in the 2013 failed vote to pass the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act, and supported a 2016 failed measure to protect businesses that oppose same-sex marriages for religious reasons.

Schmitt served as an alderman for Glendale, Missouri, from 2005 to 2008. On November 4, 2008, Schmitt was elected to the Missouri Senate. When sworn in, Schmitt became one of the youngest members ever to serve in the state's upper chamber. He represented Missouri's 15th State Senate district, which includes parts of central and western St. Louis County. Following the 2010 census, Schmitt's district was redrawn, although it is still centered around central St. Louis County. On February 28, 2012, Schmitt filed for reelection in the 15th district. He ran unopposed in both the primary and general elections in 2012.

Schmitt was admitted to the Missouri bar in 2000. He was a partner at the firm Lathrop & Gage, LLP, in Clayton, Missouri, where he focused on land use, real estate, business disputes, and administrative appeals. In his community, he has been an active member for the boards of DeSmet Jesuit High School, Nurses for Newborns Foundation, St. Louis Crisis Nursery, and a Parents as Teachers Program. He had previously been elected chairman of the Young Lawyer Section Council of the Missouri Bar, led a statewide Giving Tree effort to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and created a Special Needs Advocacy Task Force. He has also been involved with the TS (Tuberous Sclerosis) Alliance, the Gateway Chapter of the Autism Society of America, Habitat for Humanity, and local Chambers of Commerce.

Schmitt graduated from DeSmet Jesuit High School in 1993 and from Truman State University in 1997, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts cum laude in political science. At Truman, Schmitt was a member of the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity, played football and baseball, and was a founding member of Truman's Habitat for Humanity chapter. He received a scholarship to attend Saint Louis University School of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctor in 2000. Schmitt was an editor of the law review and published an article analyzing the Supreme Court decision in Clinton v. New York.

Eric S. Schmitt (born June 20, 1975) is an American politician who has been serving as the 43rd Attorney General of Missouri since 2019. He previously served as the 46th State Treasurer of Missouri from 2017 to 2019. Before that, he was a member of the Missouri Senate, representing Missouri's 15th State Senate District from 2009 to 2017. He had also previously served as an alderman for Glendale, Missouri from 2005 to 2008, where he was one of two aldermen for Ward 3. On November 13, 2018, Schmitt was named Attorney General of Missouri by Governor Mike Parson, after the incumbent, Josh Hawley, was elected to the United States Senate.

Schmitt is among 14 attorney general signatories on a Supreme Court brief stating that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect LGBTQ people from employment discrimination. Schmitt said his signature "should not be interpreted as speaking to the merits of the issue, but rather the interpretation of the law that is written," and that he believes "every person, no matter their race, creed, ZIP code or gender, should be treated with dignity under the law", however critics dismiss this as "legalese" and "on the wrong side of history."