Joe Holleman | Post-Dispatch
Political correspondent/columnist
Missouri’s two federal court districts will soon get new top U.S. Attorneys — and both will have ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ connections.
According to sources close to the selection process, Thomas Albus is in line to get the nod for the Eastern District in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, while former Jefferson Countian R. Matt Price will be named to head the Western District in Kansas City.
Albus now is a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County Circuit Court judge. Price is chief legal officer for Diamond Pet Foods near Jefferson City.
Thomas Albus, then-first assistant to Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019 announces the findings of an investigation into sexual abuse allegations by Catholic clergy members.
Both men have done stints as federal prosecutors during their careers.
Albus began his professional career with the Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner law firm.
In 2002, he was named a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½. In his 17 years in that post, his biography notes, he handled criminal cases focusing on white collar, tax and public corruption.
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Albus left the position in 2019 to become first assistant to U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, who was Missouri’s attorney general at the time.
R. Matt Price, chief legal officer of Diamond Pet Foods
In 2020, Gov. Mike Parson appointed Albus as a circuit judge in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County.
Albus, if confirmed, would replace Sayler Fleming, who left in May after spending more than five years as the top federal prosecutor in eastern Missouri.
Price is a 1997 graduate of St. Pius X High School in Crystal City. He earned his law degree at ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ University and began his legal career as a prosecutor in Jefferson County, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ city and then the U.S. District Attorney’s office.
After four years as a prosecutor, Price left the public sector to work for FedEx Corp. and Walmart before taking on his current role at Diamond.
The pet food company’s owners are regular contributor to Republican candidates.
No date has been set for announcing the appointments, though talks about naming the replacements have circulated for more than a month.
U.S. Attorneys are nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. They serve four-year terms.
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