As the year wraps up, the Missouri Attorney General's Office takes stock of its achievements and outlines a course for the future. Attorney General Hanaway expressed immense pride in the team's accomplishments, "The dedication our team has to the State of Missouri has protected children, obtained restitution for ripped-off consumers, and brought justice for victims alongside local law enforcement," according to the official year-end summary, as per the Attorney General's Office.
The Office has been active on various fronts, scoring multiple court victories, including dismissing a lawsuit aiming to overturn Missouri's parental consent laws for minors seeking abortions, securing a judgment in Fitz-James v. Hoskins that cleared Amendment 3 for ballot inclusion, removing Alfred Montgomery from the St. Louis Sheriff position after he was deemed unfit to serve, and stopping an alleged illegal diversion of federal funds by the Biden Administration. On the litigation battlefield, the Attorney General’s team tackled entities ranging from Planned Parenthood, the City of St. Louis, to proxy advisory firms promoting ESG and DEI agendas.
Wide-ranging investigations dotted the Office’s 2025 agenda, addressing the concerns of Missourians and public safety. Areas of focus included the practices of Kratom manufacturers, the Grain Belt Express project's honesty, local DEI initiatives, Bitcoin ATMs’ deceptive fees, and content policies of tech giants like Google and Meta Platforms. In courtrooms, collaborative efforts with local prosecutors led to life sentences, convictions of child predators, and indictments in fraud cases.
The Attorney General’s Office didn't shy away from impactful settlements either, securing a historical $24 billion judgment against the Chinese Communist Party over COVID-19 allegations and a $149.6 million agreement with Mercedes-Benz on unfair trade practices. Notably, within hours after implementing a rule mandating age-verification on pornographic sites, a major adult platform restricted access to its service in Missouri rather than comply.
In addition to these headline-grabbing efforts, the office provided substantial consumer protection by recovering over $61 million in judgments and settlements, addressing more than 66,000 consumer complaints. The Public Safety department sustained its momentum with numerous guilty verdicts and pleas, and Medicaid Fraud efforts led to substantial settlements totaling over $3.5 million. Also of significance were the proactive measures in Governmental Affairs that included public training sessions and resolutions to Sunshine Law complaints.
As 2026 dawns, Hanaway's eyes are firmly set on the continuation of their mission. "I am very grateful for the opportunity to serve the State of Missouri in 2025, and I am eager to see what our Office will accomplish for Missourians in the New Year," she stated in the office's annual review, the Attorney General's Office noted.
