A ruling on whether a child custody case between former Gov. Eric Greitens and his ex-wife will remain under jurisdiction of Missouri courts or be moved to Texas was issued Friday but it has not been made public.
Boone County Associate Circuit Judge Leslie Schneider issued her ruling Friday and notified the Travis County, Texas, District Court that a judgment on the motion to move the case had been reached. But neither the court nor the attorneys involved were permitted to provide a copy of that judgment to anyone not involved with the case.
Bradley Coldwell, a Texas attorney representing former Missouri first lady Sheena Greitens, filed a motion Tuesday asking for the case there to be sealed. He could not be reached for comment on whether the Texas court now has jurisdiction.
Also on Tuesday, the Kansas City Star filed a motion to intervene in the case in order to argue the decision should be opened. In it, attorney Bernhard Rhodes wrote the Missouri Constitution, state law and Missouri Supreme Court rules require cases to be open unless there is a specific legal reason, stated in writing by the court, for closing the case or some filings.
"It does not matter that both parties may desire for a court record to be closed," Rhodes wrote on behalf of the Star, citing a 2016 ruling from the Eastern District Court of Appeals that opened a case previously sealed in its entirety.
The Independent has also cited those laws and constitutional provisions, as well as the Eastern District case, in two letters sent to Schneider asking for access to exhibits presented in court, a transcript of a closed deposition and to the Friday ruling.
The requests have been denied, citing the security level on the ruling and that there are no publicly available records of the exhibits and deposition.
Schneider put her ruling under "Level 6" security, which makes it available only to select court staff.
His motion notes "the court's docket contains no order sealing the judgment. Because such a detailed order is plainly required, the sealing of the judgment is invalid for this reason alone."
Gary Stamper, attorney for Eric Greitens, declined to reveal any information about the ruling.
"I don't know what that means and will have to check Supreme Court operating rules for guidance," Stamper wrote in an email. "I don't want to get into trouble."
Helen Wade, attorney for Sheena Greitens, has declined requests to state whether the case will be moved.
Sheena Greitens filed for a divorce from Eric Greitens in 2020. She now lives in Austin, Texas, where she is on faculty at the University of Texas.
Last year, she asked courts in Texas to take jurisdiction over continuing child custody issues. The Texas court deferred to Schneider, who has overseen the case since it was filed.
Initially, court filings revealed little about how issues in the relationship led to divorce. That changed in March, when Sheena Greitens filed the sworn statement accusing her ex-husband of "unstable and coercive" behavior in 2018 and 2019, before and after he resigned as governor while facing possible impeachment and criminal charges.
In a subsequent sworn statement, Sheena Greitens said she had photos and documents to back up her charges and in a June interview with The Independent said she fled their home on June 11, 2018, in fear he would harm himself and the family.
The case dominated headlines through the spring and summer after Sheena Greitens filed an affidavit detailing allegations of child and spousal abuse as Greitens sought the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.
Eric Greitens denied the allegations and lashed out at his ex-wife and accused his political opponents of working with Sheena Greitens to write the affidavit and get it distributed to reporters.
Greitens made no public statements under oath about the allegations but was forced to give testimony behind closed doors in late July. None of the evidence presented in that closed proceeding has been released and a transcript of the session has not been made publicly available.
Greitens came in third in the primary but that does not lessen the public's interest in knowing the outcome of the case, Rhodes wrote.
"Those voters – both those who voted for Eric Greitens and those that voted against him – are entitled to know the truth of these allegations," Rhodes wrote.
Whether Schneider will unseal her ruling is up to her, said Jean Maneke, an attorney who advises the Missouri Press Association on Sunshine Law issues.
Court proceedings are not covered by the general laws requiring open government.
While the Missouri Constitution and Missouri Supreme Court rules generally require open court proceedings, cases involving children can be an exception, she said.
"Sunshine Law and access to court records are two separate things," Maneke said. "And there's a lot of people in the public who don't understand that."
The public interest in the outcome of the case is a compelling reason to unseal the decision, Rhodes wrote.
"While Eric Greitens lost his most recent election," Rhodes wrote, "it is naive to believe that he won't be back; after all, he ran in this election after resigning in disgrace as Missouri's governor."
The Missouri Independent, www.missouriindependent.com, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization covering state government and its impact on Missourians.