HOUSE BILL NO. 1994 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE IRWIN.
3937H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To amend chapter 171, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to the Ten Commandments in schools.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 171, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be 2 known as section 171.022, to read as follows: 171.022. 1. As used in this section, "Ten Commandments" means the following 2 text: 3 "The Ten Commandments 4 I AM the LORD thy God. 5 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 6 Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images. 7 Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain. 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which 10 the Lord thy God giveth thee. 11 Thou shalt not kill. 12 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 13 Thou shalt not steal. 14 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 15 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's 16 wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy 17 neighbor's."
EXPLANATION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted from the law. Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language. HB 1994 2
18 2. Beginning on January 1, 2027, each school district's school board and charter 19 school's governing board shall display the Ten Commandments in each building under 20 the school board's or governing board's jurisdiction in which the academic instruction 21 of pupils is actually and regularly carried on for a group of students, subject to at least 22 the following requirements: 23 (1) The nature of such display shall be determined by each school board and 24 governing board; 25 (2) Such display shall be composed of, at a minimum, a poster or framed 26 document that is at least eleven inches by fourteen inches; and 27 (3) The text of the Ten Commandments shall be the central focus of the poster or 28 framed document and shall be printed in a large, easily readable font. 29 3. (1) A school board or governing board may spend the board's moneys or 30 donated moneys to purchase the displays. 31 (2) A school board or governing board may accept donated displays. 32 (3) This section shall not be construed to require a school board or governing 33 board to spend the board's moneys to purchase displays. 34 4. The state board of education may promulgate all necessary rules and 35 regulations for the administration of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that 36 term is defined in section 536.010, that is created under the authority delegated in this 37 section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the 38 provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This section and chapter 39 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly 40 pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul 41 a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority 42 and any rule proposed or adopted after the effective date of this section shall be invalid 43 and void. ✔
Statutes affected: