Opinion

Legislative Update

Monday, July 15, 2019

Legislation to Reform Missouri’s Criminal Justice System Signed into Law (HB 192 and SB 1 and HB 547)

Gov. Mike Parson recently signed into law three bills that will provide significant reforms for Missouri’s system of criminal justice. Passed by lawmakers during the 2019 regular session, the bills will modify Missouri’s minimum sentencing requirements, put an end to debtors’ prisons, and expand the list of crimes that can be expunged from a person’s record.

 

In signing the bills, Parson said, “As a former sheriff and law enforcement officer, I understand the challenges facing those working within the criminal justice system, and we have to do a better job. These bills bring bipartisan reform to Missouri's criminal justice system while also promoting public safety and supporting our local prosecutors.” 

 

HB 192 will give judges greater discretion when sentencing non-violent offenders. The bill is meant to both help non-violent offenders get a second chance, and to slow the growth of Missouri’s prison population. The bill will allow judges to issue sentences below Missouri’s current minimum sentencing requirements except in crimes that involve the use, attempted use, or threat of physical force, or certain non-consensual sex crimes against a minor.

 

HB 192 will also keep judges from putting people back in jail for failing to pay for the cost of previous stays in jail. The bill will keep a person’s failure to pay a jail for housing that person from resulting in more jail time that would result in additional housing costs.  Instead, counties can use civil means to collect such costs, or a judge can waive the costs. The bill will prevent a warrant from being used solely because of the failure to pay costs.

 

SB 1 will expand the list of crimes that can be expunged from a person’s record. The bill expands on a law that was passed in 2016 and went into effect in 2018 that allows individuals to seek expungements for many nonviolent felony and misdemeanor crimes. This year’s legislation adds stealing, credit card fraud, possession of a forging instrument and property damage in excess of $750 to the list of offenses that are eligible for expungement. The bill is meant to give nonviolent offenders a second chance and an opportunity to obtain employment and affordable housing.

 

HB 547 authorizes prosecuting attorneys to divert criminal cases to a prosecution diversion program. The bill also doubles the amount of restitution paid to any person found guilty but later determined to be innocent solely as a result of DNA profiling analysis. Those wrongfully incarcerated will receive $100 per day for each day of post-conviction incarceration. Additionally, the bill requires each judicial circuit to establish a veterans’ treatment court.

 

Gov. Parson Signs Legislation to Protect Victims of Domestic Violence (HBs 243 & 544)

Another bill approved by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Parson is meant to protect victims of domestic violence. The bill will make changes to Missouri’s landlord-tenant laws in an effort to ensure domestic violence victims have a safe place to live.

 

The legislation aims to address an issue that sometimes occurs when a person is trying to get out of a domestic violence situation and needs to find a new place to live. Victims often live with their abusers or their abuser knows their address. If the victim is under a lease agreement, they can have a hard time relocating because landlords are under no legal obligation to let them out of their lease.

 

In an effort to better protect victims of domestic violence, lawmakers approved the bill to let victims break a lease in order to relocate to a safer place. The legislation will prevent anyone at risk of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking from being evicted, being denied tenancy, or violating a lease agreement as a result of that risk. Anyone who is a victim, or is in imminent danger of being victimized, will be able to use this as a defense if a landlord takes them to court. The bill establishes what evidence a landlord must accept as proof of such situations.

 

With the governor’s signature, Missouri now joins at least 18 other states that have laws requiring landlords to let domestic violence victims break their lease.

 

Gov. Parson Signs Legislation to “Back the Blue” with Specialty License Plate (HB 898)

Missouri Governor Mike Parson has signed the legislation into law that will provide Missourians a new way to express their support for law enforcement. The Missouri General Assembly approved the bill during the 2019 session to establish a “Back the Blue” specialty license plate, which Missourians can obtain to show their appreciation for Missouri’s law enforcement officers.

 

The “Back the Blue” license plate will be entirely voluntary with a ten-dollar contribution collected from the license plate applicant for the Missouri Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation, which honors those officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of the citizens of Missouri. The memorial rests on the riverside of the Missouri Capitol and a ceremony is held annually to honor the memory of Missouri’s fallen law enforcement officers. Those who want the plate will also have to pay a $15 fee in addition to normal registration costs.

 

Until the signing of HB 898, Missouri had several specialty plates for various law enforcement association members but lacked a single plate Missourians could obtain to show support for law enforcement.

 

The sponsor of the bill thanked Gov. Parson and her colleagues for moving the legislation into law and for “showing the men and women in law enforcement that we value the service and sacrifices they make in protecting and serving our citizens each and every day.” She added, “We owe them our gratitude and appreciation for the incredible service they provide and the dangers they face to protect our communities. We also must never forget the men and women in law enforcement who have given their lives to serve and protect us.”

 

Gov. Parson Signs Legislation to Protect Highway Workers and Emergency Responders (HB 499)

Legislation meant to better protect highway workers is now set to become law after receiving the signature of Gov. Mike Parson. The bill will allow the Department of Revenue to revoke the license of a driver who hits a road or utility worker in a highway work zone or an emergency responder at the scene of an emergency.

 

Under HB 499, an officer investigating a work zone or emergency zone accident in which a worker or emergency responder was hit can file a report to the department.  The director will revoke a driver’s license if he finds, based on that report, that the driver was at fault. The driver then will have 15 days to prove competency by retaking and passing the driver’s test or by appealing to a court local to where the accident happened.  If the court finds the driver was involved in hitting a worker; the work or emergency zone was properly marked, and the investigating officer found probable cause that the driver was at fault, the license revocation would stand.

 

The bill’s sponsor filed the legislation in response to the death of a highway worker nearly three years ago. The man who struck and killed Lyndon Ebker in a work zone near New Haven was later revealed to suffer from macular degeneration that impaired his eyesight, but he was still driving more than two years later. Baker's family and the Department of Transportation pushed for the legislation. The sponsor said the workers who’d been on Ebker’s crew felt unsafe because they knew the man who had killed him was still on the road.

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