Missouri Department of Public Safety Archives

Legislation appointing Missouri House and Senate marshals to be heard on Monday

January 19, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri House committee will consider legislation to appoint House and Senate Marshals, to help provide physical security and perform other duties at the State Capitol in Jefferson City.

State Rep. Lane Roberts, R-Joplin, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on February 26, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The Missouri House Crime Prevention Committee will hold a hearing next Monday on legislation from State Rep. Lane Roberts, R-Joplin. He’s a former state Department of Public Safety (DPS) director and a former Joplin police chief. Roberts also chairs the Crime Prevention Committee.

Under House Bill 784, Missouri House and Senate marshals would be able to wear a concealable firearm and make arrests based upon state law. They would have to have at least five years’ experience as a law enforcement officer and have a peace officer license.

Under the two-page bill, the House and Senate marshals would aid the sergeant-at-arms in their respective chambers. They would help oversee the physical security of the areas in the Missouri Capitol under control of the House and Senate.

Any marshals authorized under the bill would be in addition to Capitol Police officers or other law enforcement personnel.

Missouri Governor’s office: four staffers who’ve tested positive for COVID have fully recovered

October 5, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri governor’s office announced late Monday afternoon that four staffers have tested positive for the coronavirus this year. The governor’s office issued a news release, saying the staffers tested include governor’s office staff, governor’s mansion staff and the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Governor Security Division.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson’s temperature is checked at Compass Health in Wentzville on September 17, 2020 (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

The governor’s office says Governor Mike Parson and First Lady Teresa Parson have both fully recovered from COVID, and have returned to their normal schedules. They both tested positive for COVID on September 23.

“Teresa and I are so grateful that we are two of well over 100,000 Missourians that have recovered from this virus,” Governor Parson said, in a written statement. “We are glad to be back and want to again thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. We are humbled every day to be surrounded by such great people across the state.”

The governor’s office says all staff meeting the definition of close contact were tested, after the governor and first lady tested positive. The office says the four staffers who tested positive have fully recovered.

The governor says the office continues all normal business operations and duties, at this time.

Meantime, Missouri officials say 1,842 state employees have tested positive this year for COVID-19.

The state Office of Administration (OA) says the department with the largest number is the state Department of Corrections, which has seen 646 cases. The state Department of Mental Health (DMH) has had 393 cases, and the state Department of Public Safety (DPS) has had 211 cases. OA says 1,259 of the 1,842 state employees have recovered.

OA says the numbers represent the total number of state employees who’ve tested positive in 2020, as of Friday. Missouri currently has 52,863 state employees.

Parson plans to call Missouri Legislature back soon for another special session

September 17, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Gov. Mike Parson says he plans to call another special session soon. The Missouri Legislature wrapped up its veto and special sessions yesterday.

Lawmakers did not override any of the governor’s vetoes of bills and they only passed two of seven crime-related items he wanted. One bill passed would remove a requirement for St. Louis first responders to live in the city. The other would create a fund to protect witnesses and their immediate family members leading up to a criminal court trial or during investigations.

Gov. Mike Parson

At a Capitol press conference, Parson says the state will find the money to fund witness protection.

“Well we’re going to look and see what avenues we can to get that money there. You know, we’ve made a commitment to that,” says Parson. “There will be another special session on the supplemental budget sometime in October– I do know that, at some point. It may be addressed then. But you know, we’re going to see what another avenues we have to might be able to utilize to do that. But it’s something we want to get implemented as soon as we can, again to help the victims out there. We’ve just got to step it up.”

The governor says he is content with the two bills that passed because they are his two top special session agenda items.

“You know, I don’t keep score on how many bills I pass or how many I don’t,” says Parson. “It’s about making things into law that helps everyday people. You know, we’ve got a violent crime situation in this state. We need to do everything we can.”

The Legislature is made up of a supermajority of Republicans in both chambers – the same party as the governor.

“You know look, you’re not going to hit a home run every time in this building,” Parson tells reporters. “We’re very content with what we got. Anything we can do to help law enforcement, to help victims in this state to fight violent crime is a win no matter how small or how big it is.”

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, says the special session wasted $200,000 solely to boost the governor’s prospects of winning November’s General Election. The extraordinary session, which started on July 27, took almost two months to complete.

“I don’t know what the cost of special session is but maybe she could explain what the cost of 191 people that’s died in St. Louis or the 130 some odd that’s died in Kansas City. Maybe we put a value on that. I’m sure not going to,” says Parson.

A statement from Quade says Parson defunded police and other emergency responders over the summer by unilaterally slashing $2.66 million in funding from the Missouri Department of Public Safety’s budget, including eliminating $1.81 million allocated to the State Highway Patrol.

“A year ago, House Democrats strongly urged the governor to take the mounting death toll from violent crime seriously, but he ignored it until pretending to care seemed politically expedient. Even then, he spurned polices to prevent violent crime in favor of legislation focusing on crime’s aftermath, which won’t prevent a single life from being lost or family from being destroyed. Try as he might to manufacture a contrary public image, the governor’s record on public safety remains dismal,” says Quade.

Here are the bills that did not pass during the special session:

•House Bill 2 would allow an otherwise inadmissible witness statement if a “preponderance” of evidence shows the defendant engaged in wrongdoing to cause the unavailability of the witness. It would also let the Missouri Attorney General intervene in some St. Louis murder cases.

•House Bill 11 would criminalize adults who knowingly encourage, aid, or cause a child under 17 years old to commit a crime with a weapon.

•House Bill 12 would let judges decide whether juveniles 16 to 18 years old should be prosecuted as adults and possibly go to prison for certain crimes committed with weapons.

•House Bill 16 would toughen the penalty for selling or giving a firearm to someone under 18 years old to avoid or interfere with an arrest, detention, or investigation of a crime.

Parson emphasizes violent crime and homicides during Kansas City visit (AUDIO)

July 20, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

(Audio is courtesy of Missourinet Kansas City television partner KMBC)

Saying that violent crime and homicides are escalating across Missouri, Governor Mike Parson traveled to Kansas City and Springfield on Monday afternoon to meet with local leaders and law enforcement officers about next week’s special session.

Law enforcement officers from across Missouri joined Governor Mike Parson at his special session call regarding violent crime on July 15, 2020 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

The special session about violent crime starts Monday in Jefferson City.

“There’s no doubt with the homicide increases across the state, especially St. Louis, Kansas City, even Columbia and Springfield Missouri, across our state. It’s something we don’t want to be happening every day,” Parson tells Kansas City reporters.

The governor was joined in Kansas City by state lawmakers from both parties, who listened to his presentation. Parson was also joined by state Department of Public Safety (DPS) Director Sandy Karsten and by Kansas City Police Chief Richard Smith, who notes there was another homicide while the roundtable meeting was about to begin.

Kansas City has had 105 homicides in 2020, a 35 percent increase from last year. Chief Smith says there is a sense of urgency in Kansas City, and that action must be taken. The chief thanks the governor and state lawmakers for addressing the violent crime issue.

As for Governor Parson, he says witness protection and juvenile certification will be key parts of the upcoming special session. He also says eliminating the residency requirement for St. Louis Police officers is another key part of the call.

“One of the reasons since I’ve been governor that’s been an issue for the last two years since I’ve been there (as governor), they have run consistently about 150 to 200 officers down in their police department,” says Parson.

St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden testified in January that the residency requirement is the greatest challenge that his department has with recruitment and retention.

There have been at least 135 homicides in St. Louis this year.

DPS Director Karsten says witness protection is essential to reducing Missouri’s homicide rates.

“We need our communities’ help in solving the violent crime that we’re seeing. We need people to come forth as witnesses,” Karsten says.

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

Click here to watch the full Kansas City media briefing, courtesy of Missourinet Kansas City television partner KMBC.

State Reps. Ashley Bland Manlove, D-Kansas City, Richard Brown, D-Kansas City, Jerome Barnes, D-Raytown, and Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, were among the lawmakers who listened to the governor’s Kansas City presentation. They also participated in the roundtable discussion.

Representative Bland Manlove tells Missourinet that witness protection is a bipartisan issue. She also says that while she supports Governor Parson on the issue of witness protection, she would much rather see the special session address issues such as mental health, education and health care. She also notes that the Legislative Black Caucus requested a special session last year, about violent crime.

Governor Parson also traveled to Springfield on Monday, where he met with Police Chief Paul Williams, Springfield officers and Greene County Sheriff’s deputies. State lawmakers also joined the governor at the Springfield visit.

Springfield has had 15 homicides this year, and the “News-Leader” reports the city is on pace to break its previous yearly record of 16.

The governor will travel to northeast Missouri’s Hannibal on Tuesday afternoon to meet with leaders there about the special session.

Missouri Governor Parson’s Monday COVID-19 briefing (VIDEO)

March 23, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Here is the video from Missouri Governor Mike Parson’s press briefing at the State Capitol in Jefferson City about coronavirus. It took place on Monday March 23, 2020. Governor Parson was joined by state Department of Public Safety Director Sandy Karsten, Office of Administration Commissioner Sarah Steelman, and state Department of Commerce and Insurance Director Chlora Lindley-Myers. The briefing was virtual-only, in accordance with the governor’s COVID-19 directive: