SPONSOR: Hicks
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass with HCS" by the Standing Committee on Judiciary by a vote of 12 to 4. Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Rules- Administrative Oversight by a vote of 11 to 2.
The following is a summary of the House Committee Substitute for HB 46.
This bill specifies that public safety employees and commissioned and civilian personnel of a municipal police force, hired prior to September 1, 2023, cannot be subject to a residency requirement of retaining a primary residence in any city not within a county but may be required to maintain a primary residence located within a one-hour response time. Public safety employees and municipal police force personnel hired after August 31, 2023 can be subject to a seven year residency requirement.
As of the effective date of this section, the provisions of this bill will apply only to the City of St. Louis.
This bill has an emergency clause.
This bill is similar to HB 15 (2020) First Extraordinary Session.
The following is a summary of the public testimony from the committee hearing. The testimony is based on the introduced version of the bill.
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that the City of St. Louis currently has 143 open positions on its police force. Due to the staff shortage officers have had to endure 12 hour shifts and cancel personal days. Six officers have been shot in the line of duty over the past several months and the average homicide rate for the city has been over nine a week.
Testifying for the bill were Representative Hicks; Chief John Hayden, St. Louis Police Department; Demetris Alfred, St. Louis Firefighters Local 73; Stephen (Jay) Schroeder, Saint Louis Police Officer's Association; St. Louis County Peace Officer's Association; Missouri Police Chief's Association; and the Missouri Attorney General's Office.
OPPONENTS: Those who oppose the bill say that the problems in St. Louis were created by decades of public policy that prioritized its white citizens at the expense of others. Witnesses testified that the residency restrictions are in place to ensure that the Police Department employs members of the community that it is policing so that they can understand the unique needs of that community.
Testifying against the bill were Arnie "A.C" Dienoff; Empower Missouri; James Figueroa-Robnett, Jr., Missouri National Association for the Advancement of Colored People-State Conference.
This bill is similar to HB 15 (2020 special session).
Statutes affected: