Author: KMIZ

Haley Swaino

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Large-scale data center projects are popping in rural areas of Mid-Missouri, and opposition has formed to battle them.

However, local opponents so far have had little success in stopping tech giants such as Amazon and Google from building in Mid-Missouri.

Among the major concerns cited by opponents of data centers is the huge energy demand of many of these facilities. Will that demand drive up costs for regular consumers?

The Consumers Council of Missouri believes state regulators do not have strong enough safeguards in place to ensure data center power costs are not falling back on the average Missouri ratepayer.

“The decision makers in Missouri have tended to err on the side of promoting data centers rather than protecting the public,” Consumer Council of Missouri Executive Director John Coffman said. “It’s an ongoing regulatory battle.”

Coffman teaches energy utility law as an adjunct professor at Washington University in St. Louis, and represents the Consumers Council as a consumer advocate attorney, fighting for lower electric rates for residential consumers across the state.

“We [the Consumers Council] really hope that everyday residential households are the priority for our electric system,” Coffman said. “But as these data centers are being built out in a very sudden rate, the power companies are trying to plan ahead and building a whole new fleet of power plants. And so we’re expecting many new power plants over the next few years. And that’s going to bring a lot of stresses.”

Coffman has attended several forums and discussions with private utility Ameren Missouri regarding data centers, where he has continued to advocate for tighter utility regulations. He said he is already seeing an increase in power plant demand drive up electric rates.

“There is a demand for power plant component parts. There’s a demand for power plant construction workers. And this is raising the price of building power plants,” Coffman said. “That is happening right now, even before the data centers are online and part of the grid.”

ABC 17 News asked Ameren if recent or near-future spikes in rates are directly or indirectly tied to data centers.

“As we upgrade aging infrastructure, as we harden our system, as technology improves and we can more efficiently run a system that’s more reliable, that obviously takes investment within the system,” Senior Manager of Economic Development for Ameren Missouri James O’Mara said. “And so investing in new poles and wires and switches, more smart equipment, all of that is the investment that’s driving some of those rate adjustments.”

Ameren is seeking a rate hike of about 10% in 2027, it announced in a July 1 press release. Ameren filed a request with the Missouri Public Service Commission for a $343 million annual electric base rate increase that could raise average residential bills by roughly $13 a month.

According to O’Mara, data centers are not the reason for that request.

“That’s just the general upgrades and investment that we’re doing to the grid to ensure we have that reliable and affordable network that our customers need,” O’Mara said.

He noted that rate increases are common, as improvements are being made across the entire grid.

But the Consumers Council said these “improvements” are linked to what’s needed for data centers, and regardless, come at a time when the centers are predicted to drive up demand for energy in Missouri.

“There is an expectation that energy demand is going to double over a very short amount of time and that data centers could be as much as 50% of the load someday,” Coffman said.

With such high data-driven projections, the council has urged state regulators to be precise in planning for the boom.

The role of ‘large-load tariffs’

The biggest point of contention for the council is the requirements outlined in Ameren Missouri’s large-load data center tariff. The Missouri Public Service Commission unanimously approved the contract in November 2025, and it went into effect on Dec. 4.

The agreement aims to shield customers from larger bills that could come from “large load customers” like data centers. The contract defines such customers as using 75 megawatts or more of energy per month.

These are some of the requirements of large load customers outlined in the contract:

Sign a minimum 12-year contract with Ameren, with an option to extend the contract for five more years if the company scales up operations. Cover full grid hookup and infrastructure costs upfront. Pay a monthly demand charge set at 80% of their contracted maximum electric demand, even if they use less electricity than projected. Provide collateral funds equal to two years of minimum monthly bills, in the event of bankruptcy or closure. Give 36 months’ written notice to end service and pay exit and early termination fees.

Similar protections were built into Ameren Missouri’s Powering Missouri Growth Plan. The plan, which was approved by the Public Service Commission in November 2025, is designed to ensure high-usage customers pay their fair share.

But the Consumers Council prefers much stricter rules. The consumer advocacy organization urged the Public Service Commission to require 15- to 20-year contract terms, a monthly demand charge of 95%, and 10 years’ credit and collateral.

Under the large-load tariff, Ameren is also allowed “at its sole discretion” to aggregate loads and to grant variances without PSC approval. The Consumer Council opposes this, citing the need for regulatory oversight.

“There have been some rules, some guardrails put in place to make sure that data centers pay their fair share. But we’re not sure that those guardrails are good enough. We’ve proposed more protective conditions,” Coffman said.

Rich Germinder, senior policy adviser at the PSC, said the White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge and Missouri Senate Bill 4 helped lay the groundwork for consumer protections.

Gov. Mike Kehoe signed Senate Bill 4 into law in April 2025. It changed the way the Public Service Commission deals with electric rates and the adoption of electric facilities in Missouri.

“One of the key components related to Senate Bill 4 was changing the integrated resource planning process,” Germinder said. “Basically, understanding that we’ve, for the first time in several decades, have had large-load growth. So what do we need to do from a planning perspective to be more prepared?”

A critical component of the bill was the adoption of the large-load tariff requirement. The law requires Missouri’s investor-owned utilities to establish a contract with the Public Service Commission for the procurement of utility or electric services. Germinder said the tariff ensures better planning and collaboration upfront.

“How do they deal with these large loads, these really large customers that use a lot of energy, use a lot of resources,” Germinder said. “What are the terms and conditions that we need to have in place in order for those customers to come onto the system to protect other ratepayers?”

Consumer protections are also being discussed at the federal level with the Ratepayer Protection Act.

“It largely follows that same kind of model of establishing parameters for when you have large load come on that requires significant investment,” Germinder said. “That they’re paying their share upfront, that the residential ratepayers or the commercial ratepayers are not being saddled with the cost to serve that additional large load.”

Even though these new laws have outlined some safeguards, Coffman said the rate at which large data centers are popping up across Missouri is worrisome.

Public records detail more than a dozen large-scale data center projects in the Show-Me State, with multiple proposed or under construction across Mid-Missouri.

At least five large-scale centers are already up and running. Two in St. Louis — an H5 data center and a TierPoint data center — and three in Kansas City — two DataBank data centers and a Meta data center.

A Google data center is being built in New Florence in Montgomery County. The project includes a $15 billion infrastructure investment from the tech giant, Kehoe announced in May.

Google also announced a $20 million energy impact fund to support programs to drive down monthly energy bills to households in Missouri, previous reporting says.

Map detailing plans for Project Spade, a massive, $15 billion data center site in New Florence in Montgomery County. [Courtesy: Project Spade]

The more than 900-acre campus will house about 1.5 million square feet of physical facility space, project documents say. The multi-building operation is set to target a whopping 1.2 gigawatts of utility and power capacity through Ameren.

Construction on Google data center in New Florence in Montgomery County on Oct. 14, 2026. Construction on Google data center in New Florence in Montgomery County on Oct. 14, 2026.

Just across Interstate 70, an Amazon Web Services data center is also under construction in New Florence.

Construction on Amazon data center in New Florence in Montgomery County on Oct. 22, 2026. Construction on Amazon data center in New Florence in Montgomery County on Oct. 22, 2026.

The $10 billion Amazon data center campus spans roughly 1,000 acres, according to project documents.

At least 10 data centers have been proposed in Missouri over the past year:

Amazon Web Services data center near Danville in Montgomery County Crusoe data center in northern Callaway County NSIC6 LLC data center in Warsaw in Benton County Nebius AI data center in Independence in Jackson County NSIC6 LLC data center in Springfield in Greene County Wildwood Ranch data center in Joplin in Jasper County Lumon Solutions data center in Marshfield in Webster County Two data center proposals in Nodaway County Armory Innovation data center at the former Armory site in St. Louis

Coffman said there has been continued controversy surrounding a possible data center near the old St. Louis Armory.

“The city has put in place some protections that are greater actually than any other data center in the state with regard to environmental and noise type issues,” Coffman said.

Coffman said the center would be methodically placed next to a substation.

Site of a proposed data center near the historic St. Louis Armory on Oct. 8, 2026. [Haley Swaino/KMIZ]

Under Conditional Use Provisions, the center promises to prioritize the environment, community and finances.

The proposal says the center would source at least 50% of energy from renewables within five years, fully enclose noise equipment in acoustically-treated structures, immediately collect full property tax revenue with no public subsidies and hire St. Louis residents first. Armory Innovation Data Center leaders claim there would be financial penalties for non-compliance.

But across Missouri, who ensures state regulators are in compliance with their safeguard promises?

Ameren and Evergy are regulated by the Public Service Commission.

“They’re ensuring that we’re we’re living up to these agreements. They’re ensuring that we live up to Senate Bill 4 and the law that’s been established. And additionally, we have designated teams that ensure compliance for these customers,” O’Mara with Ameren Missouri said.

‘Left holding the bag’?

ABC 17 News asked the Public Service Commission how cost oversight works there. Germinder said the commission works to ensure fairness across all parties and will hold rate case hearings should need be.

“The large-load tariff dictates out the contract between the utility and the customer,” Germinder said. “And then when the utility company comes in for a rate case, all the intervening parties, the Office of Public Counsel, other parties that are interested in the construction of utility rates for investor-owned utilities in Missouri, would have an opportunity to intervene and have their say on, ‘What is the company proposing to implement in this particular rate case and what do we think is appropriate? Where should those costs be assigned?'”

The commission is considering rules to fully implement the changes to its integrated resource planning process, according to Germinder.

“We’re hoping to get those in place as soon as possible so that when utilities come in with their integrated resource plans, that we are having as robust and thorough and thoughtful conversations around the needs to meet the services and to meet the needs of Missourians,” Germinder said.

Coffman remains unconvinced that state regulators are as prepared as they can be.

“There is a lot of concern about what happens if things don’t go as planned,” Coffman said. “What if not all of the data centers come online or come to fruition? And yet the power plants have already been built to pay for those extra power plants, that extra generation capacity. That’s something that could really come back on the public generally.”

While contractually, large-load customers must provide collateral and three-year notice of closure, Coffman said it’s the power plants that could still leave residents to foot the bill.

Coffman worries the “AI bubble” could burst, creating a risk of a sudden market crash if corporate profits fail to match high spending levels.

“We don’t want to be left holding the bag. We don’t want to have higher rates just because of this big push to data centers,” Coffman said.

Some counties have halted data center discussions until more regulations can be put in place.

In Mid-Missouri, Pettis County recently passed a temporary moratorium on data center development. An Oct. 15 press release from the county commission says the moratorium will remain in place “until an economic development study, an environmental impact study, or both, as determined necessary by the Commission, have been completed and the Commission has had a reasonable opportunity to review the findings and consider recommendations.”

The Public Service Commission said changes to how it approaches planning for large-load customers at the state level have set projects like data centers up for success.

As the integrated resource planning process operates now, when a utility submits a plan to the commission, the commission doesn’t have any authority to approve the plan or to disprove components of the plan. The new process would be a contested one, where the commission would be able to make feedback-driven decisions in determining whether a plan is sufficient to meet the needs of customers, safely and at a reasonable rate.

“If the utility has submitted a plan that is insufficient, there will then be a path to correct those deficiencies or to make sure that the utility doesn’t have the opportunity to move forward,” Germinder said.

Overall, the PSC feels changes made to get ahead of the AI boom will prove sufficient.

“I think it’s going to be interesting to see how the policies that are implemented play out over time. No one can predict the future, but you have to be prepared for it. And so we’ve put in the mechanisms in place to be better prepared,” Germinder said.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Hallsville man was arrested and charged after he allegedly made threats against employees at the Gerbes on West Broadway in Columbia on Friday.

David Komosa was charged with unlawful use of a weapon, armed criminal action and three counts of misdemeanor fourth-degree assault. His bond was set at $10,000 and he was not listed on the Boone County Jail on Monday.

A condition of his bond is that he is not allowed to be on the premises of any Gerbes store in Columbia, court filings say. An initial court appearance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17.

The probable cause statement says police were called to the West Broadway Gerbes at 7:38 p.m. Friday.

A security member allegedly told police that Komosa was at the bar at the store when he started “throwing items and breaking things and attempting to fight people,” the statement says. Komosa was described as a “regular at the bar,” and was known by staff.

Three employees escorted Komosa out of the store and he allegedly made additional threats and waved what two people thought was a “long gun,” though police later determined that it was a tire iron “that looks similar to a long revolver,” the statement says. A witness allegedly heard Komosa mention he had a gun in his car while he was being escorted out, court documents say.

Multiple people claimed Komosa threatened to run over one of the victims with his car, court documents say.

The bar manager told officers that Komosa became angry after an argument at the bar and started throwing items and broke his glass, court documents say.

Komosa allegedly told police that he was upset after hearing someone make a joke about someone with mental health issues, the statement says.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A crash with a motorcycle led to a busy downtown Columbia intersection to be shut down on Monday afternoon.

Several emergency responders were at the corner of College Avenue and East Walnut Street after the crash. Boone County Joint Communications sent a notification indicating Walnut Street was closed at 2:07 p.m.

A Columbia police officer at the scene told ABC 17 News that the crash involved the motorcycle and another vehicle. An ABC 17 News reporter saw an SUV-type vehicle next to a damaged motorcycle that was on the ground.

A patient was being evaluated at the scene.

Police asked residents on social media to avoid the closed intersection.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A construction crane working on the project to expand Interstate 70 snagged a power line Monday afternoon, brining it down across the road and closing the westbound lanes.

The road closure was reported at about 12:20 p.m., according to a note posted to the Missouri Department of Transportation’s traveler information map. The closure was just east of the Midway/Highway 40 exit, the agency reported.

Traffic started moving again at about 1:40 p.m., but the significant backup was still slowing westbound traffic in west Columbia.

Emery Sapp and Sons spokesperson Kayla Davison said the crane was working on a bridge over Perche Creek.

“We will be reviewing the incident to understand what occurred and to identify corrective measures to help prevent something like this from happening again,” Davison said.

Boone County emergency dispatchers wrote in an alert that the closure was caused by downed electrical lines. A Boone Electric spokesperson did not provide information about the company’s response.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop F Sgt. Kyle Green said a construction crane knocked the lines down. He said no injuries were reported.

Check back for updates to this developing story.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 31-year-old deputy was injured in a crash on Missouri Boulevard in Jefferson City on Sunday.

Cole County Sheriff John Wheeler said in response to an email that the male deputy was treated for injuries that were not life-threatening and released from the hospital.

The Jefferson City Police Department, which is investigating the crash, would NOT release the sex of those involved.

According to a JCPD news release, the deputy was driving a Ford Explorer in the 3500 block of Missouri Boulevard when a Dodge Journey cut the deputy’s cruiser off by trying to pass another vehicle using a left-turn lane. The Explorer rear-ended the Journey, spun and hit a Jeep Compass that had pulled over to let the deputy pass, according to the release.

The deputy was responding to a call with lights and sirens activated, JCPD reported, but was not wearing a seatbelt.

The deputy was taken to a hospital for moderate injuries, according to the release.

Two people in the Compass — one 61 years old and one 67 years old — were evaluated at hospitals for minor injuries, the release states. Two people in the Journey — ages 51 and 71 — suffered minor injuries.

JCPD is still investigating the crash, according to the release.

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) 

The City of Columbia celebrated the completion of a $37 million upgrade to its water treatment plant Monday, restoring the facility’s ability to treat 32 million gallons of water per day.

But while city officials touted the improvements, the COMO Safe Water Coalition questioned the project’s timeline and said additional work is needed to address water quality concerns.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the completion of improvements at the McBaine Water Treatment Plant, which was built in 1970 and had not undergone a major equipment upgrade until now. The project included rehabilitating and replacing aging equipment, as well as constructing a new chemical building with additional safety features and efficiency improvements.

Columbia Utilities Director Erin Keys said the upgrades will allow the plant to better meet the needs of the growing community for decades to come.

“Some of the equipment and things that we had, we weren’t able to produce our full 32 million gallons a day,” Keys said. “With this upgrade, we have that capability now.”

Keys added the new chemical building brings chemicals closer to where they are added during the treatment process and provides more safety mechanisms for staff.

Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe said the project represents a critical investment in the city’s ability to provide reliable drinking water.

“As the sole provider for most of our residents for clean, reliable drinking water, this is obviously a reinvestment in that infrastructure that is so important to everybody and everyone’s home,” Buffaloe said.

She added residents should not notice a difference in the water coming from their taps, as the upgrades primarily affect the treatment process behind the scenes. Buffaloe also credited city officials with maintaining safe drinking water throughout construction.

“I think the important thing is that the residents won’t see a difference. They turned on their faucet yesterday. They turned on their faucet today. There’s no change. They’re still getting clean, drinking water. But it was all on the back end, making sure that we were able to continue that service,” Buffaloe said.

The project traces back to a 2018 bond vote, when voters approved funding for utility improvements. Work on the water treatment plant project began in 2023.

“Appreciate the voters. Because they approved the bonds in 2018, and that’s what helped fund this project,” Keys said.

The project’s price tag increased from an earlier $24 million estimate discussed in 2022. The total cost was approximately $37 million, including $4.7 million for engineering and $32.4 million for construction.

Buffaloe said the COVID-19 pandemic delayed design and construction, while rising costs afterward contributed to the need to sell bonds to fund the work.

“Sometimes government moves slow, but that’s because it has to make sure that we get this right. This is a major investment from our ratepayers and our taxpayers,” Buffaloe said. “This started with the 2018 bond vote. Obviously, the pandemic put a big pause in the construction, or even just the design of it. Then obviously everything got more expensive after the pandemic. Everyone had that experience, and so we had to sell some of those bonds.”

The cost of utility infrastructure has also affected customers’ bills. The Columbia City Council approved a 10% water rate increase in August. Keys previously told ABC 17 News that inflation contributed to the increase.

Buffaloe said the city’s utilities operate as nonprofits, meaning rates are intended to recover the cost of providing service rather than generate a profit. She said the city reviews the financial information behind rate requests to justify increases to residents.

But not everyone was taking a victory lap Monday. Julie Ryan, co-founder of the COMO Safe Water Coalition, said the group does not view the ribbon cutting as a reason to celebrate without reservations.

“This might be a ribbon cutting, but it’s a ribbon cutting on a deficient process and what the city has accomplished so far,” Ryan said. “So this really isn’t something that we are super excited about, especially because there were a number of things that were deferred.”

Ryan acknowledged that replacing aging equipment should help the plant’s performance but said the improvements do not address all of the coalition’s concerns about water quality.

“The process units that have been switched out are definitely going to help. We were dealing with some very old equipment and so things were not being processed the way they should have,” Ryan told ABC 17 News. “The problem, though, is that even with all of that shiny new equipment, we’re still having to use a secondary disinfection method. We can’t accomplish it with chlorine only, and that is indicative of the fact that we still have too much dirt in the water.”

Ryan pointed to turbidity, or cloudiness caused by particles suspended in water, as a concern. She said the treatment process has struggled to remove enough of those particles before disinfection.

Ryan said the coalition wanted granular activated carbon filters to help remove contaminants and improve water quality. She argued the plant’s continued reliance on a secondary disinfection method, rather than chlorine alone, reflects shortcomings in the treatment process.

She also challenged the city’s emphasis on restoring the plant’s capacity, arguing the facility should have maintained its ability to treat 32 million gallons per day in the first place.

“We had to, as ratepayers pay for the city’s lack of improvement, getting us back to capacity. So the fact that the capacity has become such a piece of the discussion, the city allowed the plant to lose its capacity rating. Nobody ever had to answer for that and they’ve made a big deal about being really excited about restoring the capacity,” Ryan said. “That’s not an improvement. That’s fixing a problem that happened.”

Ryan said the plant’s peak demand had been close to 24 million gallons per day, below its rated capacity of 32 million gallons per day. She argued that restoring the full capacity should not be treated as the end of the city’s work.

“The city was told that it was rated over 10 years ago, and nobody had to answer for it,” Ryan said. “Just patting ourselves on the back because we made that fix is not what citizens are looking for. We want to know that the infrastructure we have is not only protected, but that we’re looking for what’s next.”

Ryan also disputed the city’s explanation that the pandemic contributed to the project’s lengthy timeline. She pointed to other cities, including Hannibal, that completed similar projects during the pandemic.

“I don’t find that COVID is what caused it. I find the inefficiencies and just the ineffectiveness of the city’s ability to manage water utility, is what got us to this. They needed to wait to sell off that second set of bonds from the funding,” Ryan said. “All of these things kind of combined to show that it wasn’t just COVID, it was a complete lack of ability to manage and get projects of this size done.”

Ryan also criticized how the city handled the project’s rising costs. She said funding was shifted from other projects approved as part of the 2018 bond package, including a planned southeast pump station, to cover the higher cost of the water treatment plant improvements.

Ryan said the coalition believes the city will need another bond issue to pay for deferred work.

“The thing that the city has done has played whack-a-mole at every step of the way and just try to quiet the little bits of things that keep happening and get them done,” Ryan said. “Unfortunately, I think this is new equipment that will help us, but it really isn’t the end, and they are going to need another bond to fund the rest of what was deferred. For me, as a voter, I’d tell people not to vote for another bond because they did not do their due diligence and execute stewardship with what they were given with this one.”

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Fulton man was killed in a single-vehicle crash in Callaway County Sunday afternoon.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, a 37-year-old Fulton man was driving a 2023 Nissan Rogue eastbound near the 7300 block of Route Z in Callaway County at 12:15 p.m. Sunday.

Trooper said the vehicle went off the right side of the road, went airborne, hit an embankment and landed in a creek.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:32 p.m.

The crash report states he was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

This is Troop F’s sixth fatal crash in October and its 56th in 2026.

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Euphenie Andre

KINGDOM CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Drivers traveling through Kingdom City will need to plan for a temporary closure of U.S. 54 over Interstate 70 as crews prepare to demolish two bridges.

The Missouri Department of Transportation will begin the demolition at 7 p.m. Friday, with work expected to continue until 5 a.m. Nov. 2.

MoDOT I-70 Program Director Erick Kopinski said the bridges were built in the early 1960s and have reached the end of their service life.

The work is part of improvements to the I-70 and U.S. 54 interchange in Kingdom City and the $405 million Improve I-70 project between Columbia and Kingdom City. The two bridges scheduled for demolition are located in the middle of the new roundabout at the interchange.

The demolition follows other bridge removals along the I-70 corridor, including the Providence Road bridge and St. Charles Road bridge in Columbia.

“Across the state, we’ve probably closer to about 10 demos that we’ve done,” Kopinski said.

What drivers need to know

During the demolition, drivers will not be able to cross I-70 on U.S. 54. The roundabout will be closed, but the ramps at Exit 148 will remain open.

Both directions of the roadway on I-70 will also narrow to one lane. Drivers will be directed up and over the Exit 148 ramps before returning to the interstate.

Kopinski said scheduling a bridge demolition is challenging because of the amount of traffic traveling along I-70.

“There really never is a good time for us to do a bridge demolition. Especially along I-70, where there’s such significant traffic,” Kopinski said.

Drivers traveling on U.S. 54 will need to follow detours:

Eastbound U.S. 54: Take eastbound I-70 to Callaway County Routes A/Z at Exit 155, then return to westbound I-70. Westbound U.S. 54: Take westbound I-70 to Callaway County Route M at Exit 144, then return to eastbound I-70.

MoDOT said all ramps at Route M/Hatton will remain open during the demolition. After the work is complete, the eastbound ramps are expected to close again.

Motorists should allow extra travel time, follow posted detour signs and use caution when traveling through construction zones.

Other Mid-Missouri roadwork

Several highway maintenance and construction projects are also scheduled across Mid-Missouri from Monday, Oct. 26, through Sunday, Nov. 1, including work in Boone, Callaway, Camden, Cole and Cooper counties.

“We continue to do about over $1 million worth of work in Mid-Missouri every single day,” Kopinski said.

According to MoDOT, the Providence Road bridge over I-70 in Columbia is expected to reopen in mid-November. The bridge has been under reconstruction since it was demolished in late May.

Check back for updates.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Secretary of State’s Office says a former employee, who filed a whistleblower lawsuit in September, was already on track to be let go, according to new court documents filed Thursday.

Former Elections Integrity Director Nicholas La Strada accused Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins of three things he said resulted in his termination.

La Strada alleged improper use of funds for political mail, election integrity concerns when the election winner for Marshall was changed after it was certified in April and reported ethical concerns during a Help America Vote Act court hearing.

The state responded to those claims Thursday, arguing La Strada was insubordinate and failed to show up to work, Assistant Attorney General Charles Adamson wrote in court documents.

state responseDownload

“The statute does not protect an employee whose disclosure relates to the employee’s own violations, mismanagement, gross waste of funds, abuse of authority, or endangerment of the public health or safety,” Adamson wrote.

La Strada said in court documents that he emailed Hoskins and others employed by the Secretary of State’s Office about his concerns that public funds were being used to send political mail to St. Louis voters in 2025.

The state denied that public funds were used, but acknowledged that funding came from a St. Louis County executive, court documents said.

The Secretary of State’s Office confirmed it removed La Strada’s administrative access to Missouri’s voter registration database after he “without authority, made changes to voter records, including deletions and merges.”

About one year later, in April 2026, La Strada claimed that the Secretary of State’s Office intimidated Saline County election officials to change the winner of the Marshall City Council race. He said he brought this to the leaders at the SOS office.

Hoskin’s office denied La Strada’s claims that it had a hand in the Marshall race.

In a separate incident, La Strada claims he was denied access to a Help America Vote Act hearing also in April 2026 because his key card to the Capitol was suspended.

The Secretary of State’s Office argued that La Strada wasn’t barred from the hearing, and he could have used the public entrance.

“Plaintiff was required to attend, instructed to meet with counsel in advance, and reminded multiple times that he was required to attend. Plaintiff was even encouraged to submit written testimony before the hearing,” Adamson wrote in court documents.

The state also alleges La Strada didn’t want to testify in the HAVA hearing and didn’t show up to prepare for the hearing with the office’s attorney. La Strada said he reported plans by other senior staff in the Secretary of State’s Office to submit fabricated evidence to the HAVA court trial. The state denied that claim.

La Strada was fired after meeting with Hoskins twice following the trial and testimony.

“Plaintiff by then [the HAVA hearing] had a history of not showing up to work, poor communication, unprofessional conduct, insubordination, and other misconduct to include refusing to go to meetings when he had disagreements with senior staff and Secretary Hoskins,” Adamson wrote in court documents.

The state argues La Strada knows the information he argues in court documents is false. Adamson also claimed Hoskin’s office was within its right to reprimand La Strada and that he (La Strada) can’t be protected by whistleblower laws because of his wrongdoing.

Check back for updates.

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Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Part of East Broadway near South El Chaparral Avenue in Columbia is back open after it was blocked off by first responders due to a car crash Sunday.

Boone County Fire officials had blocked off the road for about 45 minutes.

The crash happened just before 3 p.m. with at least two cars involved. The road was blocked off about 15 minutes later.

At least two Boone County Fire trucks and a Boone Health ambulance were seen by an ABC 17 News reporter. A tow truck arrived at 3:13 p.m. An ABC 17 News reporter saw a red truck being towed from the scene.

It’s unknown if anyone was hurt. ABC 17 News has reached out to BCFPD for more information.

Check back for updates.

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