By Natanya Friedheim
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Gov. Mike Kehoe on Tuesday signed wide-ranging criminal justice legislation that backers say will make prison sentencing more transparent and make it easier to try juveniles as adults.
Lawmakers fast-tracked the proposal despite concerns it will increase the state’s prison population. A fiscal note on the bill predicted the resulting influx of prisoners would warrant a new prison.
“Committing crimes can’t be tolerated,” Kehoe said. “Missourians, I think, would agree that you don’t want to be soft on crime because you ran out of room.”
Sheriffs from across the state filled the governor’s Jefferson City office to watch Kehoe sign the measure. It was among a package of bills signed by the governor, and the first nonbudget bills he has acted on this year.
The measure requires people convicted of felonies to serve a certain percentage of their sentences.
It also changes Missouri’s juvenile criminal code, which historically has prioritized rehabilitation over punishment.
Sen. Nick Schroer, R-Defiance, introduced Senate Bill 888, an amalgamation of various proposals by Republican lawmakers.
“We’re just getting started,” Schroer said. “There’s so much more that needs to be done with criminal justice.”
Kehoe’s predecessor and fellow Republican, Gov. Mike Parson, signed a law seven years ago rolling back minimum prison terms to make nonviolent offenders eligible for parole earlier.
Two years before that, a change to the state’s criminal code led to fewer people being sentenced to prison, officials said. Among other things, it removed sentences that did not include a chance at parole or probation for habitual drug offenders.
The change, and a 2018 prison riot, contributed to the closure of Crossroads Correctional Center seven years ago. The state Department of Corrections transformed Crossroads into a training center for guards in 2024.
The law signed Tuesday also makes it easier for police and other law enforcement to share records about minors who are arrested. The goal is to make it easier to apprehend minors who commit crimes across county lines.
The measure also makes it easier for police to detain children.
“Some of them are very hardened criminals,” said Rep. Brad Christ, R- St. Louis County. “The catch-and-release process that we were seeing throughout the state of Missouri had to end.”
The Missouri Legislative Black Caucus issued a statement with concerns about the changes.
“Public safety and accountability must always be priorities, but we cannot ignore the long-term consequences of policies that criminalize our youth instead of investing in their potential,” Rep. Michael Johnson, a Kansas City Democrat and the caucus chair, said in a statement.
The new law allows prosecutors to call a hearing to certify a child as an adult.
That option previously was left to the courts, a juvenile officer, the child or the child’s guardians. The act narrows the circumstances under which juveniles can be certified as adults from all felonies to only serious felonies, sex offenses or when a minor commits three felonies within 180 days.
Because prosecutors are elected, House Democrats say the change will politicize criminal cases and lead to more minors tried as adults.
Prosecutors are supposed to seek justice, not convictions, Rep. David Tyson-Smith, D- Columbia , said at a press conference after the bill passed the legislature.
“Sometimes prosecutors, they get power hungry,” he said. “They get in office and they want convictions.”
Kehoe also signed a bill Tuesday that removes barriers pregnant women face when filing for divorce by barring judges from using pregnancy status as a reason to not dissolve a marriage. The measure received unanimous approval from both chambers last month after stalling in the General Assembly for years.
A third measure creating new criminal offenses for grooming children also was signed by Kehoe and received bipartisan support in the legislature. It increases penalties for sex crimes involving minors, and changes penalties for sharing or threatening to share a certain types of pornography.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said the legislation will boost her office’s efforts to crack down on human trafficking, particularly around this summer’s World Cup soccer event in Kansas City.
“We know it’s going to be a major human trafficking event,” she said.
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