Mo. Rev. Stat. » Chapter 386
Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 386.710 (2026)

Powers of public counsel

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  386.710.  Powers of public counsel. — 1.  The public counsel shall have the following powers and duties:

  (1)  He shall employ a staff or hire on a contract basis such employees and experts as are necessary to carry out the purposes and responsibilities of his office, and shall set their compensation within the appropriation made for that purpose;

  (2)  He may represent and protect the interests of the public in any proceeding before or appeal from the public service commission;

  (3)  He shall have discretion to represent or refrain from representing the public in any proceeding.  He shall consider in exercising his discretion the importance and the extent of the public interest involved and whether that interest would be adequately represented without the action of his office.  If the public counsel determines that there are conflicting public interests involved in a particular matter, he may choose to represent one such interest based upon the considerations of this section, to represent no interest in that matter, or to represent one interest and certify to the director of the department of economic development that there is a significant public interest which he cannot represent without creating a conflict of interest and which will not be protected by any party to the proceeding.  The director of the department shall select an attorney, to be paid from funds appropriated for this purpose, to represent that segment of the public certified to him by the public counsel as unrepresented.  Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the right of any person, firm or corporation specified in subsection 1 of section 386.390 to petition or make complaint to the commission or otherwise intervene in proceedings or other matters before the commission.

  2.  The public counsel shall be served with all proposed tariffs, initial pleadings, and applications, in all proceedings before the public service commission, and shall be served with a copy of all orders of the commission.

  3.  Nothing in sections 386.071, 386.150, 386.155, 386.170, 386.200, 386.330, 386.360, 386.390, 386.400, 386.410, 386.420, 386.440, 386.450, 386.480, 386.500, 386.530, 386.540, 386.600, 386.700 and 386.710, shall be construed or interpreted to mean that the public counsel shall not have the right to appeal any and all orders of the public service commission to the courts which right of appeal exists and has existed since the time of transfer as provided in section 386.500.

  4.  He shall have all powers necessary or proper to carry out the duties specified in this section.

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(L. 1977 H.B. 42 & 157)

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 17 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1993–2021 · leading case: State ex rel. Cnty. of Jackson v. Missouri Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 985 S.W.2d 400 (Mo. Ct. App. 1999).
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State ex rel. Cnty. of Jackson v. Missouri Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 985 S.W.2d 400 (Mo. Ct. App. 1999). · cites it 20× “n County’s intervention “as a political subdivision on its own behalf or as a purchaser of natural gas service,” it did object to Jackson County’s intervention “as a representative of the citizens and businesses of Jackson County on the basis that the Office of Public Counsel is…”
Agnew v. Mo.-Am. Water Co., 567 S.W.3d 652 (Mo. Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 6× “Section 386.710. Section 386.710, titled "Powers of public counsel," provides in pertinent part: 1.”
Off. of the Pub. Couns. v. Empire Dist. Elec. Co., 307 S.W.3d 220 (Mo. Ct. App. 2010). · cites it 8× “The powers of Public Counsel are set forth in section 386.710. 1 That section provides in pertinent part: 1.”
Laclede Gas Co. v. Off. of the Pub. Couns., 523 S.W.3d 27 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 3× “Section 386.710. The Legislature created ISRS to allow for single-issue ratemaking so that gas corporations could recover the costs associated with certain government-mandated infrastructure replacement projects outside a general ratemaking case, See sections 393.”
Off. of the Pub. Couns. v. Missouri Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 409 S.W.3d 371 (Mo. 2013). · cites it 2× “The powers of the OPC are set forth in section 386.710. . Although the above analysis is dispositive, it bears noting that the PSC has not identified any rule, regulation or decision in which it affirmatively determined prior to the adoption of the affiliate transaction rules…”
State ex rel. Noranda Aluminium, Inc. v. Pub. Serv. Com'n of State, 356 S.W.3d 293 (Mo. Ct. App. 2011). · cites it 2× “Public Counsel (on behalf of the public pursuant to section 386.710 2 ), Noranda, and certain other parties were permitted to intervene.”
Laclede Gas Co. v. Off. of Pub. Couns., 539 S.W.3d 835 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017). “020 and is engaged in the business of distributing and transporting natural gas to customers within its Laclede Gas service territory in eastern Missouri as well as in MGE's service territory in western Missouri.”
In the Matter of the Verified Application & Petition of Laclede Gas Co. to Change its Infrastructure Sys. Replacement Surcharge in its Laclede Gas Serv. Territory Missouri Gas Energy USW Local 11-6 Missouri Pub. Serv. Comm'n v. Off. of Pub. Couns., 504 S.W.3d 852 (Mo. Ct. App. 2016). “OPC’s second point on appeal contends that the Commission erred in approving Laclede’s ISRS Petitions because it violated OPC’s right and obligation to represent the public under sections 386.710 and 393.1015 by denying to it due process.”
Missouri Pub. Serv. Comm'n v. Off. of Pub. Couns., 526 S.W.3d 253 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 2× “Section 386.710 gives OPC the authority to represent and protect the interests of the public in any proceeding before the Commission or any appeal from an order by the Commission.”
State ex rel. Off. of the Pub. Couns. v. Pub. Serv. Comm'n of Missouri, 858 S.W.2d 806 (Mo. Ct. App. 1993). · cites it 3× “The Public Counsel, pursuant to section 386.710, RSMo 1986, appeals the Report *808 and Order of the Missouri Public Service Commission (Commission) which allows Missouri Public Service Company (MPS), a division of UtiliCorp United, Inc.”
Brooks v. Empire Dist. Elec. Co., 420 S.W.3d 586 (Mo. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 2× “This court found that Public Counsel did not have the statutory authority to bring the action under section 386.710 and affirmed the trial court's dismissal of its lawsuit.”
State ex rel. Coffman v. Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 154 S.W.3d 316 (Mo. Ct. App. 2004). “See § 386.710. For convenience, the Office of Public Counsel is sometimes hereafter referred to as "Public Counsel.”
Show all 17 citing cases →
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 386.710(2): 3 cases
Missouri-Am. Water Co. v. Hall, 470 S.W.3d 761 (Mo. Ct. App. 2015).
In the Matter of the Application of Osage Util. Operating Co., Inc., to Acquire Certain Water & Sewer Assets & for a Certificate of Convenience & Necessity Pub. Water Supply Dist. No. 5 of Camden Cnty., Lake Area Waste Water Ass'n, Inc., Missouri Water Ass'n, Inc., & Cedar Glen Condo. Owners Ass'n, Inc. & Off. of the Pub. Couns. v. Missouri Pub. Serv. Comm'n & Osage Util. Operating Co., Inc., 637 S.W.3d 78 (Mo. Ct. App. 2021).
In the Matter of Missouri-Am. Water Co. for a Certificate of Convenience & Necessity Authorizing it to Install, Own, Acquire, Construct, Operate, Control, Manage & Maintain a Sewer Sys. in Benton Cnty., Missouri v. George M. Hall, No. WD78297 (Mo. Ct. App. Sept. 22, 2015).
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