Faculty & Staff

Scott grew up in Grinnell, Iowa. His undergraduate studies included participation in the Institute for Comparative and Economic Systems at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He graduated from Iowa State University in Ames, IA in 1983 with a business degree in Accounting. He worked for the public accounting firm of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell and Company on their audit staff for a short time before attending the University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia, MO where he received his J.D. degree in 1987. Scott began his legal career as an Assistant Attorney General at the Office of the Missouri Attorney General where he worked in the Criminal and Litigation Divisions. In that position, he represented the State of Missouri in all the districts of the Missouri Court of Appeals, the Missouri Supreme Court, the Eighth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals and in writ proceedings before the United States Supreme Court. Since 1989, he has been in the private practice of law. The focus of his law practice has been on bodily injury, business and probate litigation. He has significant jury trial, mediation and appellate experience. In 1995, he was selected by the Missouri Bar Foundation to receive the David J. Dixon Appellate Advocacy Award. In 2017, Scott completed the University of Missouri’s “Mediation Training for Civil Cases”. Scott is married to Heidi Crist Templeton who served for many years as Truman State’s Director of Public Relations. He has a daughter, Callie O’Donnell, and a son, Carter Templeton, who are both Truman State University graduates. Scott will teach the “Legal Environment of Business” and “Commercial Law” courses.