The Forum

In this third installment of our series reporting on citizens’ access to information, we’re high lighting The Freedom Center of Missouri (FCMo). The Freedom Center of Missouri is a statewide, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to research, litigation and education in defense of individual liberty and transparent, accountable, constitutionally limited government. Based in Mexico, Missouri, FCMo was founded in 2010 by attorneys Jenifer Zeigler Roland and her partner David Roland. 

The organization has played a pivotal role in advocating for government transparency and accountability throughout the state of Missouri. One recent legal victory for the organization in June 2025 in a case spanning a decade exemplifies the kinds of battles FCMo has been waging on behalf of Missouri citizens since its inception. In 2015 Aaron Malin, a law student, requested records from the Cole County Prosecutor’s office regarding drug task forces in Missouri. The County Prosecutor at the time, Mark Richardson, failed to search for or provide the requested records. With the help of Freedom Center of Missouri, Malin filed a lawsuit, which remains the only remedy for citizens in Missouri seeking records that are refused by a government agency. The case has gone on for a little more than 10 years. Cole County Circuit Courts and multiple appellate courts have repeatedly found that the prosecutors’ office was legally bound to search for and produce the requested records. As of 2025 the Cole County Prosectors’ office still had not searched for or produced the records. By April 2025 Cole County taxpayers had footed the bill for at least $189,000 in legal costs. On June 12, 2025, a Cole County Circuit Judge again ruled in Malin’s favor and awarded attorney fees, costs, and expenses. Malin was finally provided with records, including additional records that weren’t initially requested. The landmark case emphasizes possible consequences for agencies who are noncompliant with the Sunshine Law. This ruling, however, was rendered before our current governor Mike Kehoe signed new amendments to the Sunshine Law in July 2025. Our current Sunshine Law would have potentially created drastically different outcomes in the case. Had our current laws been in place at the time of Malin’s initial request, the prosecutors’ office would have been able to demand full payment in advance for all activities speculatively required by office staff to process the request. The new version of the Sunshine Law may present significant financial and legal hurdles for average citizens seeking public records from government agencies in Missouri. 

“This problem frequently emerges when one party tends to dominate elections at one level or another of government,” said David Roland, Legislative Director at Freedom Center of Missouri. “To be clear, this is a bipartisan problem. Republicans in statewide office and the state legislature are not keen on transparency that might provide fuel for political opponents, but neither are the Democrats that tend to dominate government in St. Louis City. So even though the idea of transparency is quite popular among voters, very few elected officials are actually motivated to increase transparency.” 

Ongoing trends in government officials decreasing citizens’ access to information regarding government activities continues to prevent community members from becoming informed about the activities of their elected officials. In these times, it is imperative that we increase awareness of the importance of citizens’ access to public information. “Sometimes citizens only realize after a bill or proposal has been adopted that it was even under consideration – but by that point it’s too late to prevent it, and it’s always much harder to un-do a poor governmental policy than it is to prevent it from being adopted in the first place…Our system of government depends on voters understanding what the public officials are doing with the authority and taxpayer resources they’ve been provided,” states Roland. Missourians seem to be constantly challenged to stay abreast of how their elected officials are either representing or misrepresenting them in Jefferson City.

 FCMo legislative activities center around six key areas of public interest: Freedom of Expression, Economic Liberty (i.e. the right to earn a living), Property Rights, Religious Liberties, Limited Government, and Government Transparency. The work of FCMo has been so widely acknowledged throughout the state of Missouri that Roland was recognized as one of Missouri’s most influential attorneys in February 2025 for his work in advocating for the freedoms and liberties of citizens throughout the state. One of FCMo’s most notable cases includes their defense of individuals who were detained and cited by the St Charles Police Department in 2012 for gathering signatures for a ballot initiative. Signature gathering has historically been one of the most exercised rights Missourians have asserted to have popular initiatives added to the ballot. In 2023 FCMo won a case in which Phelps County was found to have violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments after banning a citizen in the rural town of Edgar Springs, MO from city hall and city council meetings because the citizen had become publicly critical of local government. Based on the organization’s advocacy in 2024, a Greene County consent judgement was secured, providing increased transparency and access to election information for residents of the City of Springfield who requested election records and were denied by the city clerk. Roland counts the recent victory in the Malin v. Cole County Prosecuting Attorney as the agency’s most significant win this year, “so far!” As Roland explains, “We won a judgement… they had to search for and produce the records my client requested…but it then took another eight years and a total of three trips to the Missouri Court of Appeals to finally force them to complete the required search, produce the responsive records, and pay the attorney fees they owed us…it took ten years to attain final victory in this case.” 

The Missouri Freedom Center has continued playing an integral role in helping to keep citizens throughout the state informed and liberated. Through strategic action, the organization has consistently helped to establish legal precedents that endure multiple administrations throughout governments all over Missouri. The Freedom Center of Missouri’s work empowers citizens to shine a light onto the functions of their government. Still, just as many other organizations have experienced, securing sustained funding remains an ongoing challenge. “I hate that we can’t respond to everyone, but we’re a tiny organization with a tiny operating budget (usually less than $50,000 per year), which means we have to make tough choices about how to use our limited resources (including time).” 

Additional information about the Freedom Center of Missouri and how you can help support the vital work they’re doing to increase government transparency and accountability can be found at mofreedom.org.