The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is undergoing a major transition after lawmakers and Gov. Mike Kehoe reinstated a gubernatorial board that oversees the agency.

But the changes for the police department go beyond the reimposition of the state board.

Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office will now be in charge of defending the St. Louis Police Department in certain civil litigation cases. That’s because Bailey’s office is in charge of defending state agencies against claims to the state’s legal defense fund.

“The legal expense fund is really the insurance policy for the state,” Bailey said in an interview on Wednesday. “So any claims enumerated in that statute that are in connection with the public officials duties are covered by [the fund] … the state's law firm, the Missouri Attorney General's Office, defends against them.”