JEFFERSON CITY — A wide-ranging proposal meant to address an assortment of crime-related concerns cleared the Missouri House on Monday and now heads to the Senate for a second round of vetting.
A similar crime package won the Legislature’s approval in the waning hours of last year’s legislative session. But it fell victim to Gov. Mike Parson’s veto pen in summer.
Rep. Lane Roberts, R-Joplin, is sponsoring this year’s “comprehensive crime bill.” Before joining the Legislature, Roberts worked for more than four decades in law enforcement, including seven years as the Joplin police chief and two years as the state director of public safety.
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The measure has broad Republican support, but it faced pushback from some Democrats during debate last week on the House floor.
It contains several changes pertaining to criminal charges and minors. It would increase the minimum age a minor could be charged as an adult for any felony from 12 to 14. And it would clarify that 12 is the minimum age at which a minor could be tried as an adult for offenses such as first- and second-degree murder and first-degree assault or robbery.
Minors who knowingly cause the death of another person and are convicted of second-degree murder would be ineligible for parole. Currently minors are only ineligible for parole if convicted of first-degree murder.
Rep. Barbara Phifer, D-Kirkwood, questioned the penalties, saying that her 12-year-old granddaughter is concerned with “Warrior Cats” and Pokemon.
“I wish that all children who were 12 to 14 were engaged in Pokemon,” Roberts said in response. “The reality is that in some of our urban areas in particular, there’s 12- to 14-year-olds, who are engaged in truly egregious conduct that has dire consequences to other people.”
“Blair’s Law,” which creates a criminal offense for “unlawful discharge of a firearm,” is also part of the package. It’s aimed at curtailing so-called celebratory gunfire and has bipartisan support.
The crime bill would also impose tougher penalties for harming or killing police dogs or other law enforcement animals like horses.
During a House Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee hearing, Roberts said he understands the unique relationship between an animal and its handler.
“What you think of as animals, we generally think of as partners,” he said.
Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove, D-Kansas City, on the House floor opposed the provision, known as “Max’s Law.”
“Using a dog on a person to give chase and subdue is the same commands given to hunting for wild beasts,” Bland Manlove said. “And for Black people, a chilling flashback to runaway property in any town in America with Black neighborhoods around 1963.”
The crime package would also place limits on the authority of civilian law enforcement oversight boards.
Rep. David Tyson Smith, D-Columbia, said he was concerned that “for those review boards that are not going beyond the pale or overstepping, it may handcuff them.”
Among other provisions, the bill would also create a cyberstalking task force, create criminal offenses for the distribution of Schedule I and II drugs that leads to serious injury or death, and expand the definition of “persistent offender.”
During the final vote on the House floor Monday, Democrats raised their frustrations about Republicans’ refusal to enact gun laws in the wake Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting last week.
Rep. Patty Lewis, D-Kansas City, who was at the parade during the shooting, recounted her experience hiding in a Union Station bathroom.
“We’ve seen it happen over and over: mass shooting, thoughts and prayers, get on with day-to-day life,” Lewis said. “Well I can’t get on with day-to-day life, and I will not stop fighting for commonsense gun laws.”
Rep. Ben Baker, R-Neosho, responded: “There’s always a call for stricter gun laws. That’s the almost immediate reaction by many in this body when something happens like this,” he said. “The fact is no law that we could pass in this body would have prevented the terrible tragedy that happened last week.”
Baker’s comments prompted shouts of, “That’s a lie!” from some in the chamber.
When Parson vetoed last year’s crime package, he issued a statement of general support but took issue with changes to expungement requests and to restitution for those exonerated based on DNA evidence.
“(The bill) contains many public safety measures that we support and would like to sign into law, including Blair’s Law, Max’s Law, increased penalties for violent repeat offenders and gun crimes, and strengthening the public defender system,” Parson said in the statement. “However, in this case, these unintended consequences unfortunately outweigh the good.”
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