JUSTICE ACTION NETWORK URGES GOVERNOR PARSON TO SIGN BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION TO MAKE THE MISSOURI JUSTICE SYSTEM SMARTER, FAIRER AND MORE EFFECTIVE
Justice Action Network’s Carl Filler: “This is a tremendous step forward for Missouri”
(Jefferson City, MO) – Today, the Missouri legislature sent Governor Mike Parson Senate Bill 53, which expands police accountability and transparency, implements the “Raise the Age” law, expands alternative sentencing for parents, expands record-sealing, and provides a “second look” option allowing prosecutors to revisit suspected wrongful convictions. The bill, which received near-unanimous support in the House and Senate, is the result of merging two bills by Senators Tony Luetkemeyer (R-34) and Brian Williams (D-14). In response to today’s bill passage, the Justice Action Network, the country’s largest bipartisan organization advancing criminal justice reform at the state and federal levels, issued the following statement:
“This is a tremendous step forward for Missouri. Senate Bill 53 increases accountability and public trust in policing, provides additional support for people in the juvenile justice system and children whose parents are incarcerated, ensures that women in prisons and jails are treated with greater dignity, gives people with criminal records a better chance at employment, and provides a pathway to the wrongfully convicted to finally get justice,” said Carl Filler, State Policy Analyst for the Justice Action Network.
“We’d like to thank Senators Luetkemeyer and Williams, and Representatives Evans (R-154), Roberts (R-161) and DeGroot (R-101), for putting people above partisanship, and working together to advance public safety and create a smarter, fairer, and more effective justice system for all Missourians. We urge Governor Parsons to sign this crucial legislation,” continued Filler.
Senate Bill 53:
Eliminates the requirement of new appropriations to expand juvenile court services from seventeen years of age to eighteen years of age, implementing the long-delayed 2018 “Raise the Age” legislation.
Requires that the Director of Corrections and any sheriff or jailer who holds a person in custody ensure that feminine hygiene products are available at no cost to women confined in any correctional center or jail.
Requires that the Department of Corrections administer a community corrections program to encourage the establishment of local sentencing alternatives to promote opportunities for primary caregivers convicted of nonviolent offenses to continue to care for their dependent children.
Allows a prosecuting or circuit attorney to file a motion to vacate or set aside the judgment at any time if he or she has information that the convicted person may be innocent or may have been erroneously convicted.
Increases police accountability by providing that a law enforcement officer who engages in sexual conduct with a detainee or prisoner who is in the custody of such officer shall be guilty of a class E felony; enrolling all law enforcement finger prints in the FBI’s Rap Back program; requiring that the chief executive officer of each law enforcement agency shall, prior to commissioning any peace officer, request a certified copy from the Director of all prior circumstances surrounding dismissal from a previous law enforcement job in Missouri; and disallowing law enforcement from knowingly using a respiratory choke-hold unless such use is in defense of the officer or another from serious physical injury or death.
Requires each law enforcement agency to, at least annually, collect and report local data on use-of-force incidents involving peace officers to the National Use of Force Data Collection through the Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as well as share with the state Director of Public Safety who must publish that information annually.
Eliminates current statute that only allows sealing of arrest records if an individual who was arrested has no prior or subsequent misdemeanor or felony convictions.
Reduces the time a petition for record-sealing can be filed from seven years to three years from the date the petitioner completed any disposition of the sentence imposed if the offense is a felony, and from three years to one year if the offense is a misdemeanor. Additionally, under current law, any rights that were restricted as a collateral consequence of a person's criminal record shall be restored upon issuance of the order of expungement.