Warren County

Andrew Bailey stepping down as Missouri attorney general for job in Trump administration

Previously served as Warren County assistant prosecuting attorney

Posted 8/19/25

Gov. Mike Kehoe appointed former U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway to replace Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Aug. 19. 

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Warren County

Andrew Bailey stepping down as Missouri attorney general for job in Trump administration

Previously served as Warren County assistant prosecuting attorney

Posted

Gov. Mike Kehoe appointed former U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway to replace Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Aug. 19. 

This will be the third time in six years the state will have a new AG as Andrew Bailey announced on Monday that he plans to step down to become co-deputy director of the FBI. 

Hanaway is expected to serve until Bailey’s current term expires in 2028. Bailey said his last day in office will be Sept. 8. 

Hanaway currently serves as Partner at Husch Blackwell in St. Louis, where she has successfully handled complex legal issues in both state and federal court. Before leading the firm as the first woman Chair, she served as Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives, the only woman to ever hold this role.

Hanaway previously served as the chief federal law enforcement officer for the Eastern District of Missouri, U.S. Attorney, where she supervised more than 4,000 criminal, affirmative and defensive civil cases and personally tried cases to jury verdicts. She also supervised and assisted in the development of cutting-edge theories of criminal prosecution.

“I want to thank Governor Kehoe for this opportunity. It is a humbling honor to be selected for this role, and a duty I do not take lightly,” Hanaway said. “Attorney General Bailey has done an incredible job fighting for Missourians, and I am eager to get to work on behalf of Missourians to uphold the rule of law, protect the Constitution, and ensure a strong future for our state.”

Bailey was appointed attorney general in 2022 after Eric Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate. Schmitt got the job in 2018, replacing another Republican who won a Senate seat, Josh Hawley.

“My life has been defined by a call to service, and I am once again answering that call, this time at the national level,” Bailey said in a news release announcing his departure. “But wherever I am called, Missouri is and always will be home.”

Bailey had never run for public office before former Missouri Gov. Mike Parson tapped him to replace Schmitt in 2022. At the time, he was serving as Parson’s general counsel. He previously worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Warren County and as an assistant attorney general.

Andrew Bailey, Catherine Hanaway

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