Armand and Teddi Bechard exited the courthouse with their attorney this morning.

The couple from Laclede County is fighting for their right to sell raw milk after charges were brought against them by Greene County.

"We thought we were operating fully within the full scope of the law.  The law is very clear that an individual may purchase and have delivered to him for his own personal use raw milk from a farm.  That's exactly what we do," said Armand Bechard.

The prosecution says agents with Bechard's farm were selling raw milk at the Wedgewood Shopping Center in Springfield when they were approached by undercover agents with the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.  

But the real question is whether or not selling that raw milk was a real violation of any state statutes?

Bechard's attorney, Gary Cox, says there was no violation because state law says nothing about "where" raw milk must be sold.

"The state is taking the position that you have to purchase it at the farm, at the physical location of the farm, which is why I made the argument.  If that was the case, the General Assembly would have used the words at the farm instead of from the farm," said attorney Gary Cox.

But the Springfield-Greene County Health Department says a 1973 opinion by the Missouri Attorney General states the law prohibits a dairy farmer from setting up a distribution center away from the farm.

"He or his representative sold on two separate occasions to inspectors, and at that point it becomes a food establishment.  He was operating without a permit," said Karen Prescott in November 2009.

The health department says raw milk could also be unsafe, but Bechard disagrees.

"Pasteurization has been around for less than 100 years.  Raw milk has been around for centuries and centuries.  People have lived on it.  It's a whole food.  You could survive on eating and drinking nothing but raw milk," said Bechard.

Meanwhile, Bechard's attorney says this case is important in making sure the state doesn't overstep its boundaries.

"This is an important case because in Missouri it is legal to sell raw milk.  That's what we're trying to do.  The state, especially Greene County, is trying to chip away those rights, and restrict the freedoms that are granted dairy farmers and their consumers," said Cox.

The judge refused requests to dismiss the civil and criminal cases against Bechard.

He also denied a motion to postpone the civil case, while the criminal proceeded.

The civil suit comes from a state request in November.

That's when the state asked a judge to stop Bechard selling raw milk or raw milk products in public locations.

The state wants that request to become permanent, and that's what is still at stake.

We'll continue to follow this story and bring you the latest.

Story ideas or comments?  Email me at wcarter@kspr.com