Major Changes to Missouri Criminal Code Approved by the Missouri House (HB 210)

It has been more than 30 years since our state’s criminal code was comprehensively updated and revised. It was an ambitious undertaking then, as it was again this year as my colleagues in the House worked diligently to once again revised the code. Their efforts culminated this week as we approved a bill that would make much-needed changes to the code in order to make it reflect the realities of the world we live in today.

The truth is the criminal code we have today is too voluminous and too confusing.  We have 700 sections of statute that have many areas that are either conflicting or duplicative, and penalties that are inconsistent. To help bring some order to the chaos, the Missouri Bar Association spent the last several years working with legislators and private citizens to clean up the code and make our criminal laws more easily understood by the general public.

The bill we passed this week would create a new class of misdemeanor, as well as a new class of felony. The class “D” misdemeanor would be used for low-level, high-volume, first-time offenses. It’s a change meant to provide a penalty more severe than a simple infraction, but to be disposed of by means of a fine only. 

The new class “E” felony would help address the gap that currently exists between class “B” and “C” felonies. The change would give Missouri what has been a missing rung on the felony offense ladder, and would allow for punishment to appropriately correspond with increasing levels of severity of criminal activity. In addition, the change is one that would give prosecutors more flexibility in the charging and disposition of criminal cases.

Another important change in the criminal code revision would increase the fine schedule for all crimes for the first time since the last major revision. As the fines have not increased with the rate of inflation over the years, they have fallen woefully behind and become a less effective deterrent for misdemeanor offenders. The proposed revision would double the current fines in many cases. The changes would modernize our fine system so that it better reflects the increase in the cost of living that has happened over the last three decades.

While these represent just a few of the changes in the bill, the overall impact of the legislation would be to modernize Missouri’s criminal code to reflect the realities of today’s society and to better allow the criminal justice system to effectively and appropriately punish and deter crime. It has been a collaborative effort on the part of the lawmakers, prosecutors and defense attorneys who worked closely together to clean-up and update the statutes that make up the code. It now moves to the Senate where our colleagues there will have to work quickly to pass the legislation before session ends May 17.

To monitor House Bill 210, please click on the following link:

http://www.house.mo.gov/billsummary.aspx?bill=HB210&year=2013&code=R