A Republican running for the Missouri House says he鈥檚 being sued by state Rep. Justin Hicks, the lawmaker he鈥檚 hoping to replace, for publishing information on a about a 2010 order of protection issued when a woman accused Hicks of choking her.
Hicks, R-Lake St. Louis, is leaving the legislature to .
The lawsuit is sealed from by a court order. Max Calfo, who filed to run for Hick鈥檚 legislative seat, told The Independent that the suit accuses him of 鈥減ublic disclosure of private facts.鈥�
, Calfo鈥檚 campaign treasurer, says she has also been named in the lawsuit.
On the website, along with an image of the 2010 court order, Calfo accuses Hicks of using his power as a legislator to that hides information in court cases, including birth dates of parties to a case, that has generally been public in the past.
Hicks wrote the law, Calfo said, to protect his own record from disclosure.
鈥淭he only conceivable reason that you鈥檇 want to hide birth dates is if you want to try to prevent the verification of court documents,鈥� Calfo said.
Williford, who said she is a volunteer and had no role in creating or publishing the online material, doesn鈥檛 understand why Hicks included her in the case.
鈥淚鈥檓 a busy mom,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 have four kids. I have a baby. I鈥檓 very involved in my school district and community. I don鈥檛 have time for a legislator to sue me and cause this kind of grief for my family.鈥�
They have filed motions to unseal the documents and dismiss the lawsuit, Calfo and Williford said.
Justin Mulligan, an attorney representing Calfo and Williford, said he cannot talk about the lawsuit or disclose any filings.
Hicks declined several requests from The Independent to discuss the lawsuit and the materials published by Calfo.
On Tuesday, Hicks filed for the Republican nomination in the 3rd Congressional District. He became the eighth candidate to file in the GOP-dominated district since incumbent U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer .
The other Republican candidates in the race are former state Sen. Kurt Schaefer of Columbia; former state Sen. Bob Onder of Lake St. Louis; current state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman of Arnold; Arnie C. Dienoff of O鈥橣allon, a self-styled public advocate; Chad Bicknell of Arnold, who unsuccessfully ran for a state House seat in 2020; Kyle Bone of DeSoto, who came in third in a state House primary in 2018; and Brandon Wilkinson of Fenton, who is making his first bid for public office.
Calfo has been planning a bid for Hicks鈥檚 seat in western St. Charles County鈥檚 108th House District for many months, forming a campaign committee in September. Anticipating he would be in a primary against Hicks, he published a about Hicks as part of his campaign website.
The page links to images of a barring Hicks from contact with a woman who accused him of grabbing her by the neck and choking her.
Hicks鈥檚 identity was verified using his birthdate, Calfo said.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch last year reported on Calfo鈥檚 website and the woman who filed for the order of protection .
Hicks, who is 31, was 17 at the time. Under Missouri law in 2010, a 17-year-old was treated as an adult by the courts. The age has since been raised to 18.
The order of protection expired on June 15, 2011.
The 2010 case is now sealed and does not appear on Casenet, the state鈥檚 online court records system. Calfo said Hicks asked in 2021 for records of the case to be hidden, telling the court it was to help his legal career.
At the time, Calfo said, Hicks was already planning a bid for the Missouri House.
鈥淭hese documents never should have been sealed to begin with,鈥� Calfo said. 鈥淚f you are open with a judge and you say I want these sealed for my political advantage, there鈥檚 no way they will do that.鈥�
Calfo鈥檚 also challenges Hicks鈥� statements that he has engaged in combat. His for his House race states he is 鈥渁 combat veteran.鈥� Calfo鈥檚 website has a military service record that shows Hicks was deployed overseas for a 10-month , technically a combat zone, when he held the rank of Human Resources Specialist.
While she says she had no role in posting the materials on Calfo鈥檚 website, Williford said Hicks鈥� life is open to scrutiny because he is a public official and candidate for higher office..
鈥淎s a public figure, his entire life needs to be public, all the things he鈥檚 done whether he wants those in the public eye or not,鈥� she said.
The new law barring the courts from disclosing personal information expanded a 2009 law intended to protect the identity of minors and others involved in custody and support cases. It bars the courts from allowing the public to see 鈥渢he full date of birth of any party鈥� along with hiding all personal information about victims and witnesses in all court cases.
Hicks introduced a version of the law and the version that became law as an dealing with . His bill passed a committee with a unanimous vote and the amendment passed the House on a voice vote.
Legal analysts have reported that because of the new law, Missouri from the public than any other state and is the 鈥溾�� because of the way courts must identify parties in documents.
On July 1, all newly filed court documents became available to the public . Previously, only lawyers and others whose work required online access could view filings. The public had access at terminals in courthouses and a handful of other locations.
With the change and the new law, the few documents that had been generally available online 鈥� such as final judgments in lawsuits 鈥� became hidden to prevent inadvertent disclosure.
鈥淭hese documents were on Casenet for years and, as my lawyer says, you can鈥檛 unring a bell,鈥� Calfo said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 make what is a public fact a private fact. You can鈥檛 go back in time and do that.鈥�
This story was published by The Missouri Independent, part of the States Newsroom.
