Missouri's special session on violent crime Archives

Parson and Galloway blast each other repeatedly during Missouri gubernatorial debate

October 9, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s two major gubernatorial candidates clashed during a Friday afternoon debate in Columbia on numerous issues, including Clean Missouri, COVID, Medicaid expansion and valet parking at the Capitol.

The debate, which took place at the Missouri Theatre in Columbia, was sponsored by the Missouri Press Association.

Missouri voters approved Clean Missouri in November 2018. It had several provisions, including one requiring a nonpartisan demographer to draw state legislative districts.

Governor Mike Parson (R) opposed Clean Missouri and supports Amendment Three, which will appear on your November ballot. Amendment Three transfers the responsibility of drawing the districts from the demographer to a governor-appointed bipartisan commission.

“None of the big money behind this ever talked about how the redistricting would work, they talked about everything but that (in 2018),” Parson says. “This is a major shift in how we do elections in the state of Missouri.”

But Auditor Nicole Galloway, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, disagrees. She backed Clean Missouri in 2018 and opposes Amendment Three.

“In November of 2018, over 60 percent of voters said they want a fair, transparent government and they wanted to get rid of gerrymandering,” says Galloway.

The candidates also blasted each other over COVID. Galloway says Missouri physicians support a statewide mask requirement.

“Because it is a proven way to contain the spread of the virus, protect the public health, get our economy going again,” Galloway says.

Governor Parson says he’s taken a balanced approach on COVID and has also emphasized the importance of personal protective equipment (PPE).

“You’ve got to be able to deal with the virus, you got to be able to deal with the economy, you’ve got to get kids back in school safely,” Parson says.

They also clashed over the recent special session on violent crime, with Galloway saying the governor “struck out.”

The Legislature did approve two of Governor Parson’s top priorities during the special session: a witness protection program and legislation eliminating the residency requirement for St. Louis police officers, firefighters and EMS personnel. But the Legislature did not pass the governor’s proposals regarding juvenile certification and one involving St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s (D) office.

Governor Parson says the special session was successful, and will help against violent crime.

The two candidates also had differing opinions on the cost of Medicaid expansion and also clashed on valet parking at the State Capitol in Jefferson City, an issue that hasn’t been talked about much during the campaign.

Governor Parson accuses Galloway of politicizing her office, and Galloway says Parson has failed the test of leadership.

Libertarian nominee Rik Combs and Green Party nominee Jerome Bauer also participated in the debate, which was produced by KOMU-TV in Columbia. The debate aired live in mid-Missouri on Channel 8.

Missouri House committees to hear crime bills on Monday; Kendrick wants to expand special session call

August 14, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Three Missouri House committees plan hearings on Monday afternoon in Jefferson City, relating to the special session on violent crime.

House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, Speaker Pro Tem John Wiemann, R-O’Fallon, and Majority Leader Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, announced earlier this week that they would simplify the process with single-subject bills to protect the integrity of the lawmaking process and to ensure the issues are thoroughly vetted.

Missouri House Judiciary Committee Chairman David Gregory, R-St. Louis County, checks paperwork at a hearing on August 10, 2020 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Ben Peters at House Communications)

The House Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by State Rep. David Gregory, R-St. Louis County, will hear three bills on Monday, including legislation from State Rep. Ron Hicks, R-Dardenne Prairie, that would eliminate the residency requirement for St. Louis Police officers.

The Hicks bill says that St. Louis Police cannot impose a residency requirement on their officers, more stringent than a one-hour response time. St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden has testified that the residency requirement is the greatest challenge that his department has with recruitment and retention. Opponents of the plan say it’s safer for neighborhoods to have the officers living in the city.

The Judiciary Committee will also hear a bill on Monday about witness protection. State Rep. Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, has filed legislation that would create a pretrial witness protection services fund, which would be administered by the state Department of Public Safety (DPS) to law enforcement agencies. The money would be used to provide security to witnesses, potential witnesses and their immediate families in criminal proceedings or investigations.

The Judiciary Committee will also hold a hearing on legislation from State Rep. Barry Hovis, R-Cape Girardeau, regarding witness and victim tampering.

The House Special Committee on Criminal Justice will hold a Monday hearing on legislation from State Rep. Nick Schroer, R-O’Fallon, which would allow Missouri courts to certify some juveniles as adults for violent weapons offenses.

Governor Mike Parson (R) has called for this provision, saying it’s aimed at violent crime, such as murder and rape.

But State Rep. Rasheen Aldridge, D-St. Louis, and other critics say it will lock up children and put them in prison with violent offenders and murderers. Aldridge and others protested in downtown Jefferson City this week.

“Charge them as an adult because that is how we are going to fix violence- by being tough on crime to individuals that have made a mistake and should be held accountable but you are charging our youngest babies,” Aldridge said Thursday. “When do we go to ten? When do we go to nine? What’s going to be next? Eight? Seven? We are locking up literally babies and putting them in jail with serial killers.”

The House General Laws Committee will hold a Monday hearing on two bills from Representative Schroer. One involves the unlawful transfer of weapons, and the other involves endangering the welfare of a child.

Meantime, Governor Parson spoke to Missouri House members today about the special session on violent crime. The governor hosted conference calls with House members. Parson spokeswoman Kelli Jones tells Missourinet that there have been several calls today.

There have been 167 homicides in St. Louis in 2020. The city had 194 murders in 2019. The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reports there have been 15 child homicides so far in 2020, which tops all of last year.

Across the state in Kansas City, there have been 124 homicides. There were 90, at this point in 2019 in Kansas City.

The governor expanded his special session call on Monday, to include a provision 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 says this is about fighting violent crime.

Circuit Attorney Gardner and the bipartisan Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys oppose that plan.

A hearing on a Gardner-related bill has not been scheduled, at this time.

The Missouri Senate approved the crime bill earlier this month, by a bipartisan 27-3 vote. The full Missouri House is scheduled to return to Jefferson City on Monday August 24.

There was another development in Jefferson City on Friday, when State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, requested that the governor expand the special session call to address absentee ballots for the November general election.

Representative Kendrick, the House Budget Committee’s ranking Democrat, wants the General Assembly to take legislative and appropriation action to ensure that every Missourian’s properly postmarked, but late delivered, absentee ballot for November will count.

Kendrick, House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, and others will address Capitol reporters Monday in Jefferson City, about the issue.

Missouri Senate committee to hear crime legislation on Tuesday (AUDIO)

July 27, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s special legislative session on violent crime is underway at the Statehouse in Jefferson City. The Missouri Senate gaveled-in Monday at noon and listened to about an hour of floor speeches.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on July 27, 2020 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, says a Senate committee will hold a hearing on the crime bill Tuesday afternoon at 12:45 in the Senate chamber.

“The Transportation (Infrastructure and) Public Safety Committee will be meeting and hearing the legislation at that time,” Schatz says.

The committee is chaired by State Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff. With the hearing taking place in the Senate chamber, public seating for Tuesday’s hearing will be in the Capitol’s fourth-floor gallery.

Pro Tem Schatz says there’s agreement in the Legislature on the majority of Governor Mike Parson’s special session call on violent crime. Schatz says eliminating the residency requirement for St. Louis Police officers is the most controversial proposal. The Sullivan Republican tells Missourinet it’s still the right thing to do.

“We’re 150-plus law enforcement officers short in the city of St. Louis right now. Residency will help solve some of that problem,” says Schatz.

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.

St. Louis has had at least 143 homicides in 2020. KMOV-TV reports that compares to about 110 at this time last year. Kansas City has now had 110 homicides in 2020, a 35 percent increase from last year.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, and Missouri’s Legislative Black Caucus are calling for legislation to utilize unused funds from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) to support programs for gun violence survivors.

“Missouri has failed our survivors of gun violence by not properly utilizing available VOCA funds,” Leader Quade says, in a statement. “The governor’s special session to address violent crimes is the perfect avenue for us to help these survivors and provide money for efforts that stem gun violence before it starts.”

Quade and House Democrats are calling on Governor Parson to utilize $4 million of Missouri’s average annual VOCA funding, that would provide assistance to eligible community-based gun violence intervention groups. Quade says while the VOCA funds directly assist crime victims, they also work to mitigate violent gun crimes from happening in the future.

Governor Parson (R) told Capitol reporters on Monday that he’s narrowly focused on violent crime and does not intend to expand the special session call. He was not specifically asked about VOCA.

The governor says witness protection and juvenile certification are key parts of the call, along with eliminating the residency requirement for St. Louis Police officers.

Parson also says last week’s roundtable discussions with local leaders and law enforcement officers about violent crime were productive. The governor traveled to St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield and Columbia. He also went to eastern Missouri’s Hannibal and Cape Girardeau.

“One of the reasons I went to Hannibal, Cape Girardeau is I really wanted to drive the point home that this violent crime is just not a Kansas City, St. Louis issue,” Parson says.

The governor says violent crime impacts all Missourians, adding that Hannibal recently had a homicide.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s two-minute interview with Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, which was recorded on July 27, 2020 at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City: