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Circuit Courts With Plenary Jurisdiction And Administrative Agencies With Exclusive Jurisdiction: Can They Peacefully Coexist In Missouri?, Paul M. Spinden

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper considers the serious threat to effective operation of administrative law in Missouri resulting from the Missouri Supreme Court’s abrupt change in analysis of administrative agencies’ jurisdiction. The court enunciated its analysis in primarily two decisions handed down in 2009, J.C.W. v. Wyciskalla and McCracken v. Wal-Mart Stores East, L.P. The paper explores the Supreme Court’s attempt to chart a “simple” approach to distinguishing jurisdictional adjudicatory rules from non-jurisdictional adjudicatory rules and the serious threat posed by the court’s applying this analysis to statutes governing the authority of administrative agencies.

By deciding that exclusive administrative remedies, such as workers’ …