Current Missouri law prevents employees of a state agency or a political subdivision from placing cameras on private property without the consent of the landowner, a search warrant, or permission from the highest-ranking law enforcement chief. A bill being considered by the Missouri Legislature makes it so that the highest-ranking chief can no longer approve placing the camera on private property. Republican state Representative Mitch Boggs of LaRussell tells Missourinet that his intent is not to make it harder to catch bad guys.

“The intent is to try to rein in government, keep smaller government accountable as well as we keep our people accountable,” he says. “So, my thought was is if you’ve got to go to that length and the landowner doesn’t want to catch the bad guy per se, and they’ve got to go get a warrant. Well, that’s the right way to go about that.”

Boggs says his legislation aimed at private property rights was written with the U.S. Constitution’s 4th Amendment in mind.

“My main intent here was to…try to rein in the government just a little bit, make them go through the same avenues that we have to go through as individuals. It’s maybe just a little bit of pushback, but I think it’s a it’s a smaller government idea in my mind,” Boggs explains.

His bill has the support of the Missouri Farm Bureau who adopted a policy focused on property rights. A House committee has not voted on the bill yet. In these final three weeks of the legislative session, the bill could be added to legislation further along in the legislative process.

Click here for more information on House Bill 335.

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