Criminal and Juvenile Justice System Modifications
Current status Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed; Governor's action on the bill is logged only as "Message from Governor" (4/8/2026) as of 2026-07-26, with no further detail on the official page about the final disposition (signed, vetoed, or partial veto)
This wide-ranging criminal justice bill changes fingerprinting requirements for juveniles accused of certain felonies, updates the process for certifying juveniles to be tried as adults, adjusts coordination between counties on juvenile detention, changes parole eligibility percentages for various felony classes, increases penalties for some sexual offenses and crimes against children, and restricts conditional release for certain serious felonies.
The fiscal note for the Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed version (L.R. 5440S.14T, dated April 27, 2026) projects an unknown General Revenue impact in FY2027, a gain of roughly $1,454,042 in FY2028, but a cost of roughly $869,943,502 in FY2029 and $24,518,020 at full implementation (FY2036), driven mainly by an estimated 1,715-person increase in the prison population by year ten requiring a new prison (cost could exceed $825,000,000) plus about $50,000,000 in annual operating costs; local government impact is listed as $0 to unknown.
Source: https://www.senate.mo.gov/FiscalNotes/2026-1/5440S.14T.ORG.pdf
Three earlier versions also exist (Introduced 5440S.01I.ORG, Perfected 5440S.14P.ORG/.UPD); this summary uses the final Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed version, which reflects the version that became law.
Source: https://www.senate.mo.gov/BillTracking/Bills/BillInformation?year=2026&billid=326
The site previously showed this bill as "transmitted to the Governor," which was stale. Its live BillInformation page and the Senate's Governor's Action on Truly Agreed Bills report both currently show "Message from Governor" (4/8/2026) as the bill's most recent logged action, not a plain Signed or Vetoed status — unlike the other three governor-acted bills MO Bill Watch tracks, which are cleanly marked Signed by Governor. Re-check this bill specifically on the next data pass.