Columbia city leaders call for collaboration, not controversy, in response to AG Hanaway's safety demands

Columbia City Council and other city leaders are responding with concern to Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway’s demands for Reign, a downtown Columbia bar, to submit a written plan addressing “nuisance conditions,” citing “violence radiating from the establishment.”

In a Monday letter addressed to the owner of the bar, Reign, Hanaway mentions an uptick in violence in the area since the bar opened last year. The letter goes on to accuse Reign of resisting to adjust operations to ensure public safety, “apparently because it believes that it bears no responsibility for events occurring outside its doors.”

The demands outlined in Hanaway’s press release include a written plan that Reign Bar must provide within 14 days of the letter, listing suggestions such as increasing private security, adjusting business hours or implementing capacity restrictions. The letter also acknowledges local leaders’ efforts to address safety issues, but said that problems persist. The letter states that if Reign Bar doesn’t submit a “satisfactory plan,” the Attorney General’s Office will “pursue all available legal action against Reign Bar.”

The letter and press release have raised concern among some community leaders. Columbia’s Fourth Ward City Council Member Sharon Geuea Jones said neither the Columbia Police Department nor the City Council was notified before Wednesday’s press statement, and she said singling out the establishment in a public statement bypasses crucial collaboration with the city.

“I haven’t really seen anything like this before,” said Geuea Jones. “I don’t know what information Attorney General Hanaway may have that our police department doesn’t have.”

Geuea Jones said in usual circumstances, when the attorney general’s Office or any government entity has concerns about a municipality, coordination and communication with law enforcement and city officials is the next step.

“It would proceed through normal legal channels rather than show up as a press release where nobody else had any idea that they were operating in our jurisdiction,” said Geuea Jones.

First Ward City Council member Valerie Carroll was in a town hall meeting when a member of the audience showed her Hanaway’s press release that had been released while she was there.

“I feel strongly that the local authorities know the situation best,” said Carroll, “and I feel like efforts are more effective when they are coordinated and cooperative. I didn’t see that happen here. We felt very passionately that we need local voices in municipal matters.”

Council members are also questioning the targeting of Reign as responsible for recent violence downtown.

“There is a lot of activity occurring in the public sphere and public streets,” Carroll said. “There’s a number of businesses downtown, and we don’t have evidence to say that any one business is involved more than any other business, even based on location.”

The surrounding area near Reign has seen incidents of violence, including a man who was arrested in August for firing shots near Ninth and Walnut, and seven arrests in July involving an altercation with law enforcement. According to a Missourian review of 911 dispatch calls from August 2025 through August 2026, there were no police calls reported to Reign’s address, only calls during that period on the block of North Ninth Street.

“At the moment, we haven’t been supplied with any evidence linking Reign to the incidents that were listed, and this kind of non-cooperation really only serves to create a climate of distrust and division within our community,” Carroll said.

Geuea Jones also wonders about Hanaway’s motivations in filing demands against Reign Bar.

“I think it’s a political and racial move against the owners of this particular establishment. The incidents that have been happening on Walnut Street are happening in the public street; they’re not happening in Reign Bar,” said Geuea Jones.

The District’s Executive Director Nickie Davis said in a press release The District does not support assigning responsibility to Reign Bar without clear evidence and that operating a business in a public sphere like downtown has unique safety considerations.

“One of the challenges we continue to see downtown is activity occurring in public spaces outside of our businesses, including individuals congregating on sidewalks and streets or around vehicles who may not be patrons of the nearby establishments,” Davis said in the statement. “That distinction matters when we are trying to identify the causes of problems and, more importantly, solutions that will actually work.”

UM System President and Chancellor Mun Choi has repeatedly criticized public safety downtown in the past, even discouraging students from being in certain areas downtown, citing the incidents near Walnut Street. He has also previously called for the city leaders to revoke Reign’s liquor license in August.

In a statement to KBIA, Choi said: "I appreciate Attorney General Hanaway’s strong leadership in addressing public safety concerns in Columbia. This and future actions will greatly safeguard Columbia citizens and our students."

A representative for Choi declined to comment specifically on the potential racial and political motivation behind Hanaway’s release.

In response to Hanaway’s press release, three city council members, including Geuea Jones and Carroll, released their own statement asking the Attorney General's Office to meet with city leaders to coordinate public safety efforts. The council members encourage communication between the attorney general and law enforcement.

“This [the council’s press release] is a way to say, ‘If we need to know something, you need to tell us what that is and otherwise, this is not how you move forward as an elected official in our state,’” said Geuea Jones.

Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe also weighed in on a post on Facebook on Wednesday supporting the council’s concerns.

“Our residents expect elected leaders to work together to solve issues,” Buffaloe said in her statement. “This includes Columbia leaders, partners in our region, and the state working together to collaborate on keeping ALL of our streets safe."

The Columbia City Council and The District also reiterated priorities of public safety and safety plans.

“We need to address safety issues and not by naming blame and not through press releases and media,” Carroll said. “We need to focus on the actual situation; we need to focus on actual safety issues directly.”

KBIA reached out to Reign Bar, but staff was not immediately available for comment.

“I’m not sure what it would take to satisfy the Attorney General, but I am hopeful that the owners of Reign Bar have sought legal counsel and are moving forward cautiously,” Geuea Jones said.