Lauber Municipal Law adds additional city to list of clients

Jeffery Deane and Lindsey Kolisch are representatives of Lauber Municipal Law, a firm that has built its business on representing small to medium size cities in Kansas and Missouri. The firm recently added the city of Pleasanton as a client. (Journal file photo)

By Roger Sims, Journal staff

linncountyjournal@icloud.com

PLEASANTON – Lauber Municipal Law has made significant inroads into representing Linn County municipalities over the last few months.

With Missouri offices in Lee’s Summit, Springfield, and Jefferson City, and a Kansas office in Wellsville, the firm has been building a reputation of specializing in representing municipalities. In Kansas, those have been second- and third-class cities. (All Linn County cities have populations less than 2,000 and are considered third-class cities.)

The latest to hire the firm is Pleasanton. The city council there voted unanimously to hire Jeffery Deane, a partner in the firm, as city attorney at its June 1 meeting.

In a move that some insiders say has been considered by council members for more than a month, the re-appointment of Jacklyn Paletta by Pleasanton Mayor Mathew Young at the May 4 council meeting drew a motion to confirm the appointment but died without a second. Paletta resigned at the end of that meeting.

The Pleasanton council’s relationship with Paletta had been tenuous even in the fall of 2025 when former council member Aaron Portman had challenged her advice in open meeting.

The mayor characterized Paletta’s departure as gracious, even making suggestions on a potential replacement.

However, three Pleasanton officials attended a workshop hosted by La Cygne in December that were led by Deane and associate attorney Lindsey Kolsch. The pair discussed the state’s open record and open meetings acts in detail.

Lauber Municipal Law was hired by the La Cygne City Council in March 2025, but Deane made a pitch to that city council a few months earlier when the council was considering whether to keep Burton Harding, who at the time was also Linn County Attorney. La Cygne decided to continue with Harding until he opted to move his private practice to Fort Scott, and the council then decided to hire Deane.

Parker soon followed suit after city attorney Geri Hartley notified that council that because of personal reasons she would not longer be able to represent that city. Parker city officials were notified that Lauber might be a good fit, and Deane and Kolisch met with the council in April 2025 and were hired. Kolisch serves as the attorney that attends meetings, and she consults with Deane when necessary.

Mound City was the next city to hire Lauber. Former Linn County Counselor Mark Hagen was hired as city attorney for Mound City to replace Harding, who had replaced long-time city attorney Jesse Randall of Mound City. Hagen resigned the city post last March, and Mound City officials looked to Lauber. Hagen continues to serve as assistant county attorney for Linn County.

Deane said the same evening that the Mound City Council decided to hire his firm, he was also being hired by the city of Louisburg. Again, Kolisch is the attorney who sits in on council meetings, whether by teleconference or in person.

The firm offers a teleconference option to cities to save money on time the attorneys would spend traveling to a meeting.. Deane regularly attends La Cygne council meetings via teleconference as well as in person, and Kolisch so far has attended Mound City meetings via teleconference.

Deane and company also represent the Osawatomie City Council, which has had to move to a larger venue because of the intense debate about a proposed data center, as well as Wellsville and other cities.