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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2982
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE BUR TON.
4566H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 210, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to summer camps,
with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 210, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 210.212, to read as follows:
210.212. 1. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
2 (1) "Aquatic activity", an activity involving a pool or other body of water ,
3 including canoeing, that may expose a child to a risk of serious injury because of the
4 inher ent danger of the activity;
5 (2) "Camp counselor", an employee of a summer camp who interacts with and is
6 r esponsible for the supervision and safety of childr en at a summer camp and engages in
7 activities including, but not limited to, planning and leading gr oup events, maintaining a
8 schedule of activities for children at the camp, and res ponding to safety or behavioral
9 incidents;
10 (3) "Medical emergency", an injury or the sudden and, at the time, unexpected
11 onset of a health condition that manifests itself by symptoms of sufficient severity that
12 would lead a prudent layperson, possessing an average knowledge of health and
13 medicine, to believe that the absence of immediate medical car e could result in:
14 (a) Placing the person's health in significant jeopardy;
15 (b) Serious impairment to a bodily function;
16 (c) Serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part; or
17 (d) Inadequately contr olled pain;
EXPLANA TION — 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.
18 (4) "Summer camp", a pro gram operated fro m May to September by a person
19 or organization with the primary function of pr oviding a summer recr eational pr ogram
20 for children five years of age or older and pr oviding no child car e for children under five
21 years of age in the same space or in the same outdoor play ar ea simultaneously .
22 "Summer camp" shall not include any rel igion-based summer camp.
23 2. Any person or organization operating a summer camp in this state shall
24 ensur e that employees of the summer camp are certified in operating equipment used in
25 any aquatic activity offer ed by the summer camp.
26 3. (1) Any person or organization operating a summer camp in this state shall
27 establish and ret ain onsite a written site-specific emergency plan, which shall be
28 appr oved by the dire ctor of the summer camp, outlining proc edures that addr ess the
29 following emergency situations:
30 (a) Natural disasters;
31 (b) A lost child or children;
32 (c) Fir es;
33 (d) T ransportation emergencies;
34 (e) Medical emergencies;
35 (f) Unauthorized persons on or near the pr emises of the summer camp;
36 (g) Aquatic emergencies, as appr opriate for the site; and
37 (h) Other emergency situations, as appr opriate for the site.
38 (2) Summer camp employees, including the dir ector and camp counselors, shall
39 be trained in implementing the emergency plan pr ocedur es provi ded for under
40 subdivision (1) of this subsection.
41 4. At least fifty per cent of the camp counselors employed by a summer camp,
42 and any dir ector employed by a summer camp, shall be trained in cardiopulmonary
43 r esuscitation and in the use of an automated external defibrillator .
44 5. Any aquatic activity offer ed by a summer camp to children attending the
45 summer camp and any relat ed equipment shall be inspected annually by the r elevant
46 state department including, but not limited to, the department of health and senior
47 services, the department of public safety , or the department of conservation. Such
48 inspections may be completed by local agencies if the standards employed by local
49 personnel are substantially equivalent to state standards and local personnel are
50 available for enforcem ent of such standards.
51 6. The department of elementary and secondary education shall maintain a list
52 of all licensed summer camps in this state and any complaints against any of those
53 summer camps. Such information shall be made available to the public.
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54 7. It shall be unlawful for any person or organization to establish, maintain, or
55 operate a summer camp that has not obtained a license under this section fr om the
56 department of elementary and secondary education. Every summer camp shall disclose
57 the licensur e status of the camp to the par ents or guardians of the children for whom the
58 camp pr ovides recr eation in the summer .
59 8. Any person or organization operating a summer camp in this state shall
60 maintain reco rds of all inspections requi red under subsection 5 of this section of aquatic
61 activities offere d by the summer camp to childr en attending the summer camp and of
62 any relat ed equipment.
63 9. All camp counselors shall be subject to a criminal backgro und check. Such
64 backgr ound check shall include:
65 (1) A state and Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint check;
66 (2) A sear ch of the National Sex Offender Registry; and
67 (3) A sear ch of the following regist ries, rep ositories, or databases in Missouri,
68 the state wher e the camp counselor res ides, and each state wher e such camp counselor
69 r esided during the preced ing five years:
70 (a) The state criminal reg istry or r epository , with the use of fingerprints being
71 r equir ed in the state wher e the camp counselor res ides and optional in other states;
72 (b) The state sex offender r egistry or reposit ory;
73 (c) The state family care safety r egistry; and
74 (d) The state-based child abuse and neglect regi stry and database.
75 10. Beginning May 1, 2028, any person or organization that violates the
76 pr ovisions of this section shall be guilty of a class C misdemeanor for the first offense
77 and shall be assessed a fine not to exceed seven hundred fifty dollars and shall be guilty
78 of a class A misdemeanor and shall be assessed a fine of up to two thousand dollars per
79 day , not to exceed a total of ten thousand dollars, for any subsequent offense. If a person
80 or organization violates the pro visions of this section prior to May 1, 2028, the person or
81 organization shall r eceive a written warning for each violation.
82 1 1. The department of elementary and secondary education may pr omulgate all
83 necessary rules and regu lations for the administration of this section. Any rule or
84 portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is creat ed under the
85 authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is
86 subject to all of the pr ovisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This
87 section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the
88 general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to revie w , to delay the effective date, or to
89 disappr ove and annul a rule ar e subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of
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90 rulemaking authority and any rule pr oposed or adopted after August 28, 2026, shall be
91 invalid and void.
✔
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