Our Opinion: AG makes right call to conform with residency requirement

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The state's top law officer, more than anyone, should go out of his way to obey the law.

That's why Attorney General Josh Hawley made the right decision to rent an apartment in Jefferson City to conform with a residency requirement of the office.

The Republican, who lives with his family in Columbia, has been facing mounting criticism from Democrats over a state law requiring the Missouri attorney general to reside "at the seat of government," which is Jefferson City.

Hawley has said in interviews that he and his lawyers agree that he wasn't breaking any laws. And he accused Democrats of distracting from more important issues.

Yes, we're certain that he and his fellow attorneys have good legal minds - that's presumably why voters chose him - and could convincingly argue that he's on solid legal ground. And yes, Democrats pounced on the political football.

But as the state's top law enforcement officer and lawyer for the government, Hawley should go the extra step to avoid even the perception of impropriety.

Will he now live in his apartment and away from his family? Of course not. He even said he plans to just use the apartment while working late. But at least he's following the letter, if not the spirit, of the law.

The bigger issue may be whether the law still is needed. We suspect the rationale for the law was to have the AG close by if quick legal action was needed, perhaps his signature.

(Hawley has said he can get from his home in southern Columbia to his Capitol office in 17 minutes. Either Columbia quietly annexed Ashland or his car is much faster than ours.)

Regardless, in today's digital world, the AG could do pretty much anything from his home that he could in his Capitol office.

With this in mind, we would urge the Missouri Legislature to reconsider the need for the residency requirement. It only applies to the attorney general - not to other statewide officeholders.

It could very well be time to shed the outdated law, just as Jefferson City only within the last couple decades eliminated a law stipulating where you're prohibited from hitching your horse downtown.