Teresa Rieger Housholder

Teresa Rieger Housholder, J.D. graduated from the University of Missouri – Kansas City Law School in 1997 (where she was published in the Matrimonial Law Journal), Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State) in 1992, and Marshfield High School in 1988. She is a proud native of Southwest Missouri.

Her practice focuses on Family Law (Dissolutions, Paternity actions, Modifications & Child Support); Adoptions (both agency and private), Registration of Foreign Adoptions; Criminal Law; Probate Law (Parental Delegations, Guardianships, Estate Administrations, Wills, Healthcare POA); Name Changes; Landord-Tenant issues; and Appeals.  Her practice is primarily located in Webster and Greene County but she also handles cases in Polk, Dallas, Wright and Christian, and Taney counties.  She has successfully handled cases at every level from administrative review hearings to appeals in all three Missouri Court of Appeals and the Missouri Supreme Court.

She was also the Attorney for the Juvenile Office for 7 years in the 30th Circuit for which includes Webster, Dallas, Polk, Hickory, and, Benton counties.  She has handled status offenses, delinquencies, child abuse and neglect cases and termination of parental rights including an unanimous decision before the Missouri Supreme Court.

Before she opened her private practice in October of 2005, Mrs. Housholder spent 7 years with the Department of Social Services as an attorney in the litigation unit. She worked her way up from staff attorney to Deputy Assistant Director with the Protective Services Unit which specialized in handling issues dealing with children in foster care. As the Deputy Assistant Director she was responsible for supervising up to 7 attorneys with cases loads of 70-100 cases in multiple offices while handling her own full caseload. She has also drafted legislation and reviewed and prepared comments on proposed legislation affecting children in foster care. She handled appeals in all three appellate courts while with the Division of Legal Services.

Teresa was a member of the ChildProtect training panel offered by the National District Attorney Association in cooperation with the National Child Protection Training Center.  ChildProtect was an intensive nationwide 5-day trial advocacy course designed to teach child protection prosecutors and attorneys handling juvenile cases how to handle a termination of parental rights case. She was on the board that designed the program and went on to be a faculty member and a speaker at ChildProtect.

As a former member of the Sexual Offender Visitation Review Committee with the Missouri Department of Corrections, she assisted with setting up and implementing protective visitation policies for children visiting within the Missouri Department of Correction walls.

Teresa is a contributing author of the Juvenile Law and Administrative Law desk books published by the Missouri Bar. These desk books are used as practice guidebooks by attorneys and resource manuals for judges throughout the state practicing in the areas of juvenile or administrative law.