When he was named the 44th attorney general in Missouri’s history on Jan. 3, Rhineland resident Andrew Bailey accomplished some history.

He became the first Montgomery Countian to take over attorney general duties.

“To be able to raise my family here in Montgomery County is a real source of pride for me, given the deep love I felt for this community when I interned here so long ago at the county prosecutor’s office,” Bailey said. “I finally made it and I couldn’t be any happier to be part of the community.”

Bailey got to share his experiences of his first month as attorney general during a meet and greet session on Feb. 8, held at the community room at the Montgomery City Public Library. More than 20 people were in attendance, including 1st District Commissioner Dave Teeter, Presiding Commissioner Ryan Poston, Montgomery City Administrator Steve Deves and Eastern District Missouri Court of Appeals judge Kelly Broniec, who swore in Bailey during a ceremony in Jefferson City on Jan. 3. The 90-minute event was sponsored by the Montgomery City Area Chamber of Commerce.

The 41-year-old Bailey worked in Gov. Mike Parson’s office for three years and was general counsel to the governor for the past year. He was appointed attorney general by Parson in November to replace Eric Schmitt, who was voted the state’s new U.S. Senator.

“My goals are to protect the constitution, enforce the laws that are written, defend the states and support the counties and train a new generation of public service attorneys,” Bailey said.

Bailey said when he was growing up in Columbia and attending Rock Bridge High School, he never thought he would be attorney general.

“All I wanted to do was to be a prosecutor,” Bailey said.

Long before he became attorney general, Bailey was serving in the military. He went to the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1999 on an Army scholarship.

Bailey later volunteered to go to Iraq and served under H.R. McMaster, who went on to become the U.S. National Security Advisor.

“He was my original commander,” Bailey said. “I was assigned as a platoon leader. I got the opportunity to lead a scout platoon of six Bradley fighting vehicles and 30 soldiers, plus the Iraqi platoon, which ended up being the largest offensive operation of 2005 to reclaim the city of Tal Afar, Iraq.”

After working in several places such as Fort Carson, Colo., and Fort Hood, Texas, Bailey returned to Iraq for a 15-month deployment. He said he commanded 300 soldiers, 13 platoons and almost $100 million worth of equipment.

“Those leadership and management skills are skills that are needed in state government, needed in the executive branch of state government and are really applicable at the attorney general’s office,” Bailey said.

Bailey came home from Iraq the second time and wanted to go to law school, so he moved to St. Louis, working as an armed guard at a courthouse.

“You can imagine the public experience going from commanding 300 soldiers in combat to being the new kid working the metal detector at the courthouse,” Bailey said. “But it was important for me to have a job and pay my own way. To that end, I got accepted to Mizzou Law and went back to Mizzou on a post 9/11 GI bill.”

While in law school, Bailey worked as an intern at the prosecutor’s office in Montgomery County.

“I fell in love with the area,” Bailey said. “So I always said that if there was an opportunity to move out here, I’m going to jump at it.”

Bailey worked at the attorney general’s office, the Warren County prosecutor’s office and the Missouri Department of Corrections before accepting a job at the governor’s office.
Now, he heads an attorney general’s office that has 300 employees, 200 attorneys and five regional offices.

“It’s a real humbling privilege to get to serve as the 44th attorney general in the history of the state of Missouri,” Bailey said.

Bailey, who has a wife and four children, said he has no plans of leaving Montgomery County.

“If I have to commute an hour to work in the morning and an hour home at night and run the risk of hitting deer two or three times on the ride home on Highway 94, that’s a small price for me to pay to get to stay here and raise my family,” Bailey said.