Missouri Supreme Court extends sovereign immunity to contracts in recycling lawsuit

In State ex rel. City of St. Louis v. The Honorable Joseph P. Whyte – No. SC101315 (June 23, 2026), the City of St. Louis was sued initially by a citizen, Christy Roberts, regarding St. Louis City’s trash collection, recycling, and yard waste program. Roberts claim was for a refund of fees paid for solid waste services as the City did not separately collect recyclables and yard waste. Roberts also sought to certify a class regarding her suit. After the City’s motion to dismiss, which asserted it was immune from the class action suit under Section 432.070 RSMo., the City filed a writ of prohibition against the circuit court, barring the circuit court from taking any further action other than to vacate the order overruling St. Louis City’s motion to dismiss.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in favor of St. Louis City specifically holding that “Section 432.070 provides cities with immunity from claims based on contracts that do not satisfy the statute’s requirements; any contract that does not satisfy the requirements of the statute is void.” Whyte, p. 9. For the first time, the Supreme Court has extended sovereign immunity to contracts that do not satisfy all § 432.070’s requirements. With this extension, plaintiffs attempting to enforce a contract against City’s will face a higher burden and must plead facts in their petition showing compliance with § 432.070. Cities should be aware of this new application of sovereign immunity, and if a contract claim is brought against a city, it should raise sovereign immunity as soon as possible.