Missouri

Missouri’s Medical Parole program is among the most poorly designed that FAMM has seen, and it gets a failing “F” grade. Missouri should expand its compassionate release mechanisms. Our justice system imprisons people to deter crime, punish, protect the public, and rehabilitate prisoners who will one day return home. At FAMM, we believe prisoners should be released when they are too debilitated to commit further crimes, too compromised to benefit from rehabilitation, or too impaired to be aware of punishment.

Read FAMM’s Report Card giving Missouri’s compassionate release system a failing F grade

Read FAMM’s poll showing that 70% of Americans, across political lines, support compassionate release programs

Read HB 357, Representative Kimberly Ann Collins’ bill for medical and geriatric parole

Read HB 472, Representative Ian Mackey’s bill for medical and geriatric parole

Read SB 147, Senator Steve Roberts’ bill for geriatric parole

Read SB 196, Senator Brian Williams’ bill for geriatric parole

We believe that all correctional facilities should be safe and humane, and individuals who are incarcerated should remain close to their homes in order to maintain important family bonds. FAMM supports policies that provide individuals with rehabilitative programs and meaningful work and education opportunities, as well as substance abuse and mental health treatment. Further, we believe that every prison system should be subject to oversight by an independent body that has authority to monitor and inspect facilities, address prisoner grievances, and provide recommendations for improving correctional departments.

Tell your lawmakers to support independent prison oversight in Missouri

Read more about FAMM’s work on oversight

Read SB 327, Senator Angela Mosley’s oversight bill

Read FAMM’s first-ever national poll on independent prison oversight showing 82% of Americans support it!

Missouri is 1 of only 8 states that still have an unfair sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses. Crack and powder cocaine are chemically identical drugs, but in Missouri, someone with one ounce of crack is treated the same as someone with 18.75 ounces of cocaine. That’s not fair. There is no good reason to treat crack and powder cocaine differently for sentencing, especially when its unfairness is a driver of racial disparities. The crack disparity diminishes respect for the justice system, which is why most states have already eliminated their disparities. It’s time for Missouri to do the same.

Tell your lawmakers to end the crack sentencing disparity in Missouri

Read HB 1176, which would repeal the crack powder disparity in Missouri

Read the SB 705 (Senate companion to HB 1176)

Read about the crack powder disparity in Missouri

Read about the national crack powder disparity

2019:

HB 192 became law on July 9, 2019. The bill reforms Missouri’s minimum prison terms statute, which requires that people with prior prison commitments serve at least 40, 50, or 80 percent of the sentence before becoming parole eligible. The sentencing reforms in HB 192 eliminate many convictions for minor offenses from triggering these longer, minimum prison term sentences. Most importantly, the bill applies retroactively. It makes people eligible for parole sooner if they received minimum prison terms before August 28, 2019, for an offense that is not a “dangerous felony” and not listed in the revised minimum prison terms statute, Mo. R.S. 558.019. FAMM supported HB 192.

HB 113 would give Missouri courts flexibility to impose a sentence other than a “minimum prison term” or the statutory minimum sentence if the minimum sentence would result in “substantial injustice” or is unnecessary to protect the public. This “safety valve” exception would apply to people convicted of crimes that (1) did not involve use or threatened use of force against another; (2) did not result in serious injury to another; (3) were not sex offenses against children; or (4) did not involve the brandishing or discharge of a gun by the defendant.

FAMM supported HB 113 in 2019.

Bill Status: HB 113 was introduced by Rep. Cody Smith (R-District 163) and passed by the full House by a vote of 140-17 on February 21, 2019. The bill never received a vote in the Senate and died on May 17, when the legislative session ended. It is not a law.

HB 352 would provide parole eligibility for Missouri state prisoners who have served 30 years and are

• serving a sentence of life without parole with a minimum of 50 or more years;
• 65 years old or older;
• have no prior convictions for a violent crime; and
• are not convicted sex offenders.

The legislation directs the parole board to determine if there is a reasonable probability that the prisoner will not violate the law after release. If the board makes that finding, the prisoner “shall be eligible for release” if the board finds that the prisoner has:

• a record of good conduct while incarcerated;
• demonstrated rehabilitation;
• a “workable” plan for parole including community and family support;
• an institutional risk factor of no higher than one (Based on assessment tools used by the Department of Corrections and the Parole Board); and
• a mental health score no higher than two.

If the elderly prisoner is denied parole, he or she would be eligible for reconsideration every two years until the presumptive release date.

FAMM supported HB 352 in 2019.

Bill Status: HB 352 was introduced by Rep. Tom Hannegan (R-District) and had a hearing in the Missouri House Special Committee on Criminal Justice on January 30, 2019. The bill died on May 17, 2019, when the legislative session ended. It is not a law.

2018:

In 2018, FAMM supported two safety valve sentencing reform bills (HB 1739 and SB 748) in the Missouri legislature. Unfortunately, both bills died in the Senate at the end of the 2018 legislative session. While HB 1739 (Rep. Cody Smith, R-Carthage) passed through the House of Representatives unanimously, there was not enough time left in the session to secure a vote in the Senate before the legislature adjourned for the remainder of 2018.

Below is the text of both bills we supported in 2018.

HB 1739 (Rep. Cody Smith, R-Carthage)

SB 748 (Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar)

2017:

Two bills, HB 38 and HB 1037, were introduced into the Missouri House of Representatives in 2017. FAMM supported both HB 38, introduced by Representative Galen Higdon (R, District 11), and HB 1037, introduced by Representative Bruce DeGroot (R-District 101). Neither bill became law.

May 2012:

Bill was passed to reduce crack-powder cocaine disparity by increasing the amount of crack cocaine that triggers mandatory minimum sentences. The crack-powder disparity in Missouri sentencing went from 75:1 to 18:1.

1994:

“Truth in Sentencing” Act passed, therefore individuals convicted of a Class A felony must serve 85% of their sentence before being parole eligible. This is also known as the 85% Law. It resulted in:

• Highest per capita rates of incarceration
• the prison population increased 9 times in 30 years
• the cost of corrections increasing from $220 million in 1994 to $680 million in 2014.

Encourage your state lawmakers to support mandatory minimum sentencing reform. Be sure to connect with FAMM and other sentencing reformers on Facebook, Twitter, and by signing up for our email list.

Visit our Get Involved page to learn more about advocacy across the nation.

Sentencing/Criminal Justice Reform Groups in this State:

• American Civil Liberties Union — Missouri
• Missouri Sentencing Advisory Commision (MOSAC)
• Missouri CURE
• Empower Missouri
• End 85% Law
• Families and Friends Organizing for Reform of Juvenile Justice or FORJ-MO
• Mothers of Incarcerated Sons and Daughters
• Show-Me No 85
• Missouri Prison Reform
• Missouri Justice Coalition