KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A legal document filed in Texas this week offers new details as to why a Boone County judge sealed her ruling in the custody dispute between former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens and his ex-wife Sheena Greitens.
The court filing, filed in Travis County, Texas, on Monday, said Boone County Associate Circuit Judge Leslie Schneider sealed her decision on whether to move the former Missouri first couple’s case to Texas in order to protect their young children.
“It is in the best interests of the minor children that access to sensitive matters related to the children be restricted from further disclosure, due to the notoriety of the parties and the likelihood that members of the public will continue to use information related to the children in appropriate ways,” Schneider’s judgment said, according to a quotation of her judgment in Texas court filing.
“The Court’s interest in protecting the minor children’s privacy and their best interests is a compelling justification to closing the record as it relates to the minor children.”
The paragraph explaining why Schneider sealed her ruling was quoted in Sheena Greitens’ motion to seal the judgment in Texas courts. In the motion, the former Missouri first lady argues that the judgment should be sealed because it involves matters that should not be made public.
While the Texas filing offers Schneider’s reasoning for sealing the case in Missouri, it does not include a full copy of Schneider’s ruling in the case. Helen Wade, Sheena Greitens’ lawyer, confirmed in a text message Wednesday night that Schneider’s judgment included moving the case to Texas — a move that her client had requested in 2021.
The Kansas City Star filed a motion this week with the Boone County Circuit Court asking Schneider to unseal the entire judgment. Bernie Rhodes, the Star’s attorney, said Thursday that the court’s reason for sealing the record was inadequate.
“This is a classic case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” Rhodes said. “If there’s something in there that is particularly unique to the children, that’s why Adobe PDF has a redaction feature. This does nothing to change my mind that what the court did here was wrong.”
Rhodes said the Star was solely asking the court to release the judge’s decision in the case — not discovery materials or other unique documents.
The custody dispute garnered renewed interest in March after Sheena Greitens filed an affidavit accusing the former governor of physical and emotional abuse against her and their children. Eric Greitens, through his attorney, has denied the abuse allegations and painted them as a broader political conspiracy orchestrated by establishment Republicans to upend his campaign for U.S. Senate.
The case was a major focus during the U.S. Senate Republican primary in which Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt defeated Greitens and other contenders.
A political group focused on preventing Greitens from winning the party’s nomination aired ads on television detailing some of the allegations his ex-wife made in her sworn testimony. After the former governor put out a video saying he was hunting people who he deemed insufficiently conservative, Sheena Greitens’ attorney used the video as an exhibit in the case.
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