Just a week remaining in the 2025 legislative session, the Missouri General Assembly is making steady progress on impactful legislation. This week, more bills crossed the finish line and now head to Governor Mike Kehoe’s desk for his signature.
County Official Compensation
The Missouri General Assembly has truly agreed to and passed SB 1, a measure aimed at updating and clarifying compensation and administrative responsibilities for various county officials across the state. This legislation is crucial for Missouri’s non-charter counties, which often face challenges in attracting and retaining qualified public servants due to outdated or inflexible salary structures. SB 1 gives local governments more flexibility to meet their unique needs by allowing these counties—regardless of class designation—to adjust salaries for coroners, sheriffs, auditors, and public administrators under certain conditions,
Protecting Kids’ Rights
Missouri lawmakers have passed a major reform aimed at improving the treatment and well-being of children in state custody. HB 737 and 486 target several long-standing issues in the state’s child welfare system, with a focus on protecting foster children’s financial benefits, ensuring thoughtful placement decisions, and clarifying what qualifies as child neglect.
At the heart of the bill is a new policy that stops the state from taking federal benefits meant for foster children. About 1,200 Missouri children in foster care currently qualify for Social Security, Veterans Affairs, or railroad retirement benefits, often because of a parent’s death or disability. Until now, the state has used those funds—often $900 or more per month—to cover the cost of foster care. This legislation ensures that those benefits will now be preserved for the child’s unmet needs or saved for their future, like tuition, job training, or essential personal expenses. This bill says it is a step toward giving foster kids the same financial dignity and opportunity as any other
child
The bill also addresses two other key areas. First, it clarifies that age-appropriate independence, such as walking to school or staying home briefly, isn’t child neglect, which protects parents from unfair scrutiny. Additionally, it requires the Children’s Division to consider a child’s religious background in placement decisions, aligning with current court practices and respecting the child’s cultural identity during foster care transitions.
The bill increases tax credits for youth program donations to boost violence prevention efforts and creates a new care program for high-needs youth in state custody. It requires case workers to inform families of their rights during abuse investigations and mandates that older children receive direct legal representation in court. The law raises the minimum marriage age to 18, strengthens civil recourse for survivors of childhood sexual abuse, and requires law enforcement to enforce custody orders. Finally, it establishes a new alert system to help locate missing or abducted African American youth while prohibiting discrimination in public safety coordination. Together, these reforms mark a significant shift in how Missouri supports and protects children in foster care— prioritizing their dignity, autonomy, and long-term well-being.
Improving Local Government
Another bill heading to conference between the House and Senate is HBs 595 and 343, which deal with local government ordinances related to rental property. The bill would limit the ability of counties and cities to impose certain regulations on landlords. Specifically, it would prevent local governments from requiring landlords to accept tenants based on their source of income—such as housing vouchers or other forms of aid—and would prohibit ordinances that limit how landlords screen applicants, such as checking credit, criminal history, or past evictions. It also blocks local rules that cap security deposits or mandate a tenant’s right of first refusal.
The bill does allow cities and counties to enter into voluntary agreements with private property owners regarding rent levels for subsidized housing.
Modernizing Fireworks Regulations
SBs 81 and 174 have been amended and expanded to address broader public safety concerns. It revises permit and licensing procedures under the authority of the State Fire Marshal, ensures greater oversight at fireworks venues, and implements safeguards to prevent sales or displays by individuals under the influence or in violation of permit conditions. Missouri is a national leader in fireworks sales, and this legislation reflects that leadership by enhancing public safety, improving accountability in the industry, and bringing state law up to date with current technologies and practices.
Strengthening Victims’ Voices
HB 709, also known as “Trey’s Law,” ensures that nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) can no longer be used to silence survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Under this bill, any NDA related to a child sexual abuse claim will be considered null and void in future legal disputes, starting with actions commenced on or after August 28, 2025. This change recognizes that NDAs—originally designed to protect trade secrets—have been misused in civil settlements to hide the truth and suppress victims’ voices. Survivors, especially children and the mentally disabled, often face immense difficulty in confronting their trauma, and enforced silence only deepens that pain. By invalidating these gag orders, the law empowers survivors to speak out and pursue justice, while also protecting the public by exposing patterns of abuse. Though it cannot undo the harm already done, HB 709 is a meaningful step forward in ending the practice of legally sanctioned secrecy around crimes against children.
Protective Order Definitions
HB 736 updates Missouri law by adjusting the definitions of “adult” and “child” in statutes related to orders of protection. Under current law, an adult is defined as anyone 17 or older, while a child is under 17. This bill raises that threshold to 18, aligning the definitions with Missouri’s revised juvenile court jurisdiction, which now treats individuals under 18 as minors. This change simply brings the law into alignment with the existing policy regarding minors and legal adulthood.
Catalytic Converter Sales
HB 757 strengthens regulations surrounding the buying and selling of catalytic converters and other secondhand goods while also modernizing certain commercial practices. The bill closes a legal loophole by requiring anyone dealing in catalytic converters or their parts to obtain a license from the Department of Revenue, similar to existing rules for auto dismantlers. It enhances record-keeping by mandating that sellers of detached catalytic converters provide proof of lawful ownership and identify the originating vehicle. Records must now be kept for four years, and transactions submitted monthly to DOR using a standardized form. The bill also creates new criminal offenses for unlawful possession and theft of catalytic converters, targeting the rampant rise in catalytic converter theft.
Additionally, the bill allows storage facilities to advertise upcoming property sales through commercially reasonable means, not just newspapers, helping operators reach broader audiences. Finally, it lifts outdated restrictions on Sunday sales of most items, excluding motor vehicles. The bill boosts law enforcement’s ability to combat catalytic converter theft, protects legitimate businesses, and modernizes outdated business regulations.
Clarifying Liability
HB 918 clarifies who can be held liable in civil lawsuits involving injuries caused by products. Under this bill, a plaintiff must prove that the defendant designed, manufactured, sold, or leased the specific product that caused the harm. It protects designers or companies whose work may have been copied without permission from being unfairly sued, even if the misuse of their design was foreseeable. The bill aims to prevent courts from adopting “innovator liability,” a theory that holds original inventors responsible for injuries caused by generic versions of their products, even when they were not involved in the product used. This is just commonsense — if you didn’t make or sell the item that caused the injury, you shouldn’t be held responsible for it.
Property Development
HB 1264 aims to streamline the permitting process for property development by holding local governments accountable for timely responses to development applications. Under this bill, if an application is not approved or denied within 30 calendar days, it will automatically be considered approved, allowing the applicant to move forward with construction. If denied, the subdivision must provide a written explanation, and they are prohibited from introducing new, unrelated reasons for denial in response to a resubmitted request. For incomplete applications, a notice must be issued within 20 days, and resubmissions can only be denied on their merits. So many people argue that the system is bogged down by unnecessary delays, especially for smaller-scale projects. HB 1264 establishes a fairer, more efficient process that reduces red tape.
