The Missouri Solicitor General is the appointed chief appellate lawyer inside the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, responsible for representing the state in its highest-stakes appeals before the Missouri Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. The position is not created by any statute that names it. It exists because the Attorney General has broad authority to appoint assistants and has chosen, across administrations, to designate one of them as the office’s top appellate voice.
What the Office Does
The Attorney General’s Office describes the Office of the Solicitor General as the unit that “represents the interests of the state in appellate and national matters.”1Attorney General Office of Missouri. About The Office In practice, that covers three things: arguing or supervising the state’s biggest appeals, coordinating appellate strategy across the office’s divisions, and filing amicus curiae briefs in cases where Missouri is not a party but has an interest in the outcome.
Most of the Solicitor General’s argued cases land in the United States Supreme Court and the Missouri Supreme Court, with additional work in the Eighth Circuit and the Missouri Court of Appeals.2Wikipedia. Solicitor General of Missouri When a case raises a question significant enough to warrant it, the office prepares petitions for certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take the matter up. Missouri’s Solicitor General has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court in recent years in disputes over social media regulation, student loan policy, and public health authority.
Amicus work often runs through multistate coalitions, with several attorneys general presenting a unified position on federalism, regulatory power, or constitutional interpretation. Missouri has both led and joined such coalitions on issues ranging from environmental regulation to redistricting.
Where the Position’s Authority Comes From
No Missouri statute names the Solicitor General. The office draws its authority from Missouri Revised Statutes Section 27.020, which lets the Attorney General “appoint such assistant attorneys general as may be necessary to properly perform the duties of his office.” Those assistants serve “at the pleasure of the attorney general” and hold “power and authority under his direction to represent him in the discharge of all the duties of his office.”3Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 27.020 – Assistants and Other Personnel – Qualifications – Compensation
Because the title is an organizational choice rather than a legislative mandate, a future Attorney General could restructure the office or drop the designation entirely. That has not happened. The position has carried across multiple administrations with different attorneys general, reflecting the practical need for a dedicated appellate specialist at the top of a large office.
How Someone Gets the Job
The Solicitor General is appointed directly by the Attorney General.4Attorney General Office of Missouri. Missouri Attorney General Announces Impending Appointment Of Louis J. Capozzi III As Solicitor General There is no election, no legislative confirmation, and no fixed term. Under Section 27.020, the appointee serves at the pleasure of the Attorney General and can be replaced at any time.3Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 27.020 – Assistants and Other Personnel – Qualifications – Compensation
Tenure often tracks the appointing Attorney General’s own time in office, but not always. Louis Capozzi’s 2025 appointment, for example, came mid-administration after his predecessor left for a federal judgeship.
The statutory floor for qualifications is modest: assistant attorneys general must “possess the same qualifications as the attorney general,” meaning they must be licensed to practice law.3Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 27.020 – Assistants and Other Personnel – Qualifications – Compensation In practice, recent Solicitors General have arrived with federal appellate clerkships, U.S. Supreme Court clerkships, and significant constitutional litigation experience.
Recent Officeholders
Three people are publicly documented as having held the role in recent years.
D. John Sauer served from 2017 to 2023, the longest known tenure in the position. He was later appointed Solicitor General of the United States in 2025.5U.S. Department of Justice. D. John Sauer – Office of the Solicitor General
Josh Divine succeeded Sauer and served from roughly 2023 to 2025. He handled Murthy v. Missouri at the U.S. Supreme Court, Missouri’s challenge to federal student loan debt relief, and the state’s defense of its laws restricting gender-affirming care for minors and restricting abortion. He was nominated and confirmed as a U.S. District Judge in 2025.6U.S. Congress. PN150-2 – Joshua M. Divine – The Judiciary
Louis J. Capozzi III was appointed by Attorney General Andrew Bailey to take effect upon Divine’s departure for the bench. Capozzi previously practiced constitutional and administrative law at Jones Day, clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and for judges on the Third and Fourth Circuit Courts of Appeals, and teaches at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, where he was class valedictorian.4Attorney General Office of Missouri. Missouri Attorney General Announces Impending Appointment Of Louis J. Capozzi III As Solicitor General
Whether anyone held the title before Sauer is not well documented in publicly available records.
How the Office Fits Within the Attorney General’s Office
The Attorney General’s Office is organized into divisions, including Consumer Protection, Civil Litigation, Criminal Appeals, and Public Safety, among others. The Solicitor General sits alongside those divisions but serves a different function. While divisions handle cases at the trial and lower-appellate level, the Solicitor General focuses on the highest-stakes appeals and sets overall appellate strategy for the office.1Attorney General Office of Missouri. About The Office
That gives the position a quality-control role. When a case worked up by another division reaches the Missouri Supreme Court or a federal appellate court, the Solicitor General’s team typically takes it over or provides substantial support, which keeps different divisions from advancing inconsistent legal theories across separate matters.
As of September 2025, the office operates under Attorney General Catherine L. Hanaway, Missouri’s 45th Attorney General.7Attorney General Office of Missouri. Catherine L. Hanaway Sworn In As Missouri’s 45th Attorney General Capozzi, appointed by her predecessor Andrew Bailey, continues in the Solicitor General role, showing how the position can carry over between administrations even without a guaranteed term.