Kansas City homicides Archives

Missouri House GOP leaders will handle crime bills as single-subject bills; full House to return August 24

August 11, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The top three Republican leaders in Missouri’s GOP-controlled House say they intend to simplify the process during the special session on violent crime, with single-subject bills.

Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, addresses Capitol reporters on May 15, 2020 in Jefferson City (Tim Bommel at House Communications)

All Missouri House committee hearings originally scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday have been canceled, and the full House isn’t scheduled to return to Jefferson City until Monday August 24.

“In an effort to protect the integrity of the lawmaking process, and to ensure these important issues are thoroughly vetted, we intend to simplify the process with single-subject bills so we can focus on the merits of each bill individually to produce legislation that makes our streets and neighborhoods safer. Given the fact the governor expanded the call as one of our committees (the House Judiciary Committee) was considering the bill he originally proposed, we think it’s important to take a step back and give additional thought and attention to each part of the plan. This will provide a more deliberative process that will allow us to craft the kind of policy that will better protect Missourians from the scourge of violent crime,” the statement from House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, House Speaker Pro Tem John Wiemann, R-O’Fallon and Majority Leader Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, reads.

The committee hearing that Haahr, Wiemann and Vescovo referenced took place Monday afternoon. Late Monday afternoon, Governor Mike Parson (R) expanded his special session call on violent crime, to include a provision to help with what he calls the growing backlog of murder cases in St. Louis.

The governor wants Missouri lawmakers to allow the state attorney general’s office to take on some murder cases that haven’t been prosecuted yet by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner (D). The governor emphasizes that this isn’t about taking away authority, and that it’s about fighting violent crime. Governor Parson says there have been 161 murders in St. Louis City this year, and that charges have been filed in only 33 cases.

Circuit Attorney Gardner issued a statement on Monday, criticizing the governor’s plan.

“This allows the governor and his cronies to make a mockery of judicial checks and balances and demolishes any notion of a free and independent judicial system,” Gardner’s statement reads, in part.

The Missouri Senate approved the crime bill last week, by a bipartisan 27-3 vote.

Speaker Haahr tells Missourinet that he spoke by phone with Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, earlier today, before the Haahr announcement. Rowden told Haahr that he would speak to Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, to fill him in.

The governor has emphasized that the special session is about violent crime.

St. Louis has had 163 homicides in 2020. The city had 194 murders in 2019. Across the state in Kansas City, there have been 122 homicides. There were 90, at this point in 2019 in Kansas City.

Witness protection and eliminating the residency requirement for St. Louis Police officers are top priorities for the governor.

A key proposal in the governor’s January State of the State Address was $1 million in funding for witness protection. Despite bipartisan support in both the Missouri Senate and House, the measure did not pass this year.

Missouri Legislative Black Caucus Chairman State Rep. Steven Roberts, D-St. Louis, has asked the governor to call a special session on police reform. Governor Parson has told Capitol reporters he’s focusing on violent crime, and wants to wait until January’s regular session to take up police reform.

Other Democrats, including State Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove, D-Kansas City, have called on the governor to address the root causes of crime, such as poverty.

Kansas City mayor says bipartisanship is critical in battling crime (AUDIO)

December 1, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

Kansas City’s mayor says the hardest part of the job is dealing with the increasing violence in his city.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson (right) visits with
St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, Springfield Mayor Ken McClure, Columbia Mayor Brian Treece and their four respective police chiefs on November 25, 2019 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of the governor’s office)

Kansas City saw at least three homicides in 24 hours this weekend, bringing the total number of homicides there this year to 141. That’s up from 120 in 2018, with a full month to go.

Mayor Quinton Lucas tweeted this weekend that “we can never accept the violence”, describing it as senseless. He says each victim’s life was important.

Meantime, Mayor Lucas is optimistic about the four meetings that have taken place between Governor Mike Parson and the mayors of Missouri’s four largest cities.

Lucas, a Democrat, met with GOP Governor Parson and the three other mayors last week at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City.

Missourinet asked Lucas about a tweet sent to him, questioning why he would meet with the Republican governor. Lucas emphasizes this is a bipartisan issue.

“Nobody wants me to sit around and be a proud Democrat and four years from now we still have 140 homicides every year in Kansas City,” Lucas says. “And so, I’ll meet with the governor everyday of the week if we can get this problem solved.”

Lucas says the crime priorities outlined last week in Jefferson City by Governor Parson and the mayors are reasonable ideas. St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, Springfield Mayor Ken McClure and Columbia Mayor Brian Treece also spoke at the press conference.

“What we’re saying is we’re going to make the community safer by making sure that children aren’t walking around with handguns,” Lucas tells Capitol reporters. “That domestic abusers can’t walk around with guns and threaten their past victims and survivors of domestic violence.”

Other priorities for the governor and mayors include witness protection and relocation and mental health treatment.

Click here to listen to the full press conference involving Governor Mike Parson (R) and Springfield Mayor Ken McClure, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, Columbia Mayor Brian Treece and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, which took place at the Statehouse in Jefferson City on November 25, 2019: