State GOP withdraws restraining order request on Ethics Commission case

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The state Republican Party has dropped a request for a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Missouri Ethics Commission from carrying out a campaign finance decision.

At issue was the commission's Sept. 11 decision to notify candidates they may have received contributions above limits recently reimposed by the state Supreme Court.

The Republican Party claimed the decision was made in violation of Missouri's open-meetings law and asked a Cole County judge for a restraining order blocking the commission from following through on its vote.

Citing the lawsuit, the Ethics Commission met again last Wednesday and rescinded its Sept. 11 decision. Instead, the commission decided to take public comment at an Oct. 4 hearing while starting from scratch in deciding how to enforce a Supreme Court decision reinstating campaign contribution limits.

As a result of the commission's latest action, Republicans dropped their request for a restraining order because it was moot. They did not, however, drop the entire lawsuit claiming the Ethics Commission had violated the Sunshine Law.