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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 3131
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE SMITH (68).
6506H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal sections 590.040 and 590.050, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof three new
sections relating to law enforcement response to mental-health related emer gencies.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 590.040 and 590.050, RSMo, are repealed and three new sections
2 enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 590.040, 590.050, and 590.275, to read as
3 follows:
590.040. 1. The POST commission shall set the minimum number of hours of basic
2 training for licensure as a peace of ficer no lower than six hundred, with the following
3 exceptions:
4 (1) Up to one thousand hours may be mandated for any class of license required for
5 commission by a state law enforcement agency;
6 (2) As few as one hundred twenty hours may be mandated for any class of license
7 restricted to commission as a reserve peace of ficer with police powers limited to the
8 commissioning political subdivision;
9 (3) Persons validly licensed on August 28, 2001, may retain licensure without
10 additional basic training;
11 (4) Persons licensed and commissioned within a county of the third classification
12 before July 1, 2002, may retain licensure with one hundred twenty hours of basic training if
13 the commissioning political subdivision has adopted an order or ordinance to that effect;
14 (5) Persons serving as a reserve of ficer on August 27, 2001, within a county of the
15 first classification or a county with a charter form of government and with more than one
16 million inhabitants on August 27, 2001, having previously completed a minimum of one
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.
17 hundred sixty hours of training, shall be granted a license necessary to function as a reserve
18 peace of ficer only within such county . For the purposes of this subdivision, the term "reserve
19 of ficer" shall mean any person who serves in a less than full-time law enforcement capacity ,
20 with or without pay and who, without certification, has no power of arrest and who, without
21 certification, must be under the direct and immediate accompaniment of a certified peace
22 of ficer of the same agency at all times while on duty; and
23 (6) The POST commission shall provide for the recognition of basic training received
24 at law enforcement training centers of other states, the military , the federal government and
25 territories of the United States regardless of the number of hours included in such training and
26 shall have authority to require supplemental training as a condition of eligibility for licensure.
27 2. The director shall have the authority to limit any exception provided in subsection
28 1 of this section to persons remaining in the same commission or transferring to a commission
29 in a similar jurisdiction.
30 3. The basic training of every peace of ficer , except agents of the conservation
31 commission, shall include at least thirty hours of training in the investigation and
32 management of cases involving domestic and family violence. Such training shall include
33 instruction, specific to domestic and family violence cases, regarding: report writing;
34 physical abuse, sexual abuse, child fatalities and child neglect; interviewing children and
35 alleged perpetrators; the nature, extent and causes of domestic and family violence; the safety
36 of victims, other family and household members and investigating of ficers; legal rights and
37 remedies available to victims, including rights to compensation and the enforcement of civil
38 and criminal remedies; services available to victims and their children; the effects of cultural,
39 racial and gender bias in law enforcement; and state statutes. Said curriculum shall be
40 developed and presented in consultation with the department of health and senior services, the
41 children's division, public and private providers of programs for victims of domestic and
42 family violence, persons who have demonstrated expertise in training and education
43 concerning domestic and family violence, and the Missouri coalition against domestic
44 violence.
45 4. The basic training of every peace of ficer first licensed on or after August 28, 2027,
46 shall include at least six hours of training concerning the prohibition against racial profiling
47 and such training shall promote understanding and respect for racial and cultural dif ferences
48 and the use of ef fective, noncombative methods for carrying out law enforcement duties in a
49 racially and culturally diverse environment. Such training shall include two hours of racial
50 profiling training, two hours of implicit bias training, and two hours of de-escalation training.
51 5. The basic training of every peace officer first licensed on or after August 28,
52 2028, shall include at least six hours of training concerning behavior -health crisis
53 r esponse.
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590.050. 1. The POST commission shall establish requirements for the continuing
2 education of all peace of ficers.
3 2. Peace officers who make traff ic stops shall be required to receive three hours of
4 training within the law enforcement continuing education three-year reporting period
5 concerning the prohibition against racial profiling and such training shall promote
6 understanding and respect for racial and cultural dif ferences and the use of ef fective,
7 noncombative methods for carrying out law enforcement duties in a racially and culturally
8 diverse environment.
9 3. Peace officers who pr ovide emergency res ponse shall be req uired to rec eive
10 thr ee hours of training within the law enforcem ent continuing education thr ee-year
11 r eporting period concerning behavior -health crisis res ponse.
12 [ 2. ] 4. The director shall license continuing education providers and may probate,
13 suspend and revoke such licenses upon written notice stating the reasons for such action. Any
14 person aggrieved by a decision of the director pursuant to this subsection may appeal as
15 provided in chapter 536.
16 [ 3. ] 5. The costs of continuing law enforcement education shall be reimbursed in part
17 by moneys from the peace of ficer standards and training commission fund created in section
18 590.178, subject to availability of funds, except that no such funds shall be used for the
19 training of any person not actively commissioned or employed by a county or municipal law
20 enforcement agency .
21 [ 4. ] 6. The director may engage in any activity intended to further the professionalism
22 of peace of ficers through training and education, including the provision of specialized
23 training through the department of public safety .
590.275. 1. For purposes of this section, the following terms mean:
2 (1) "Behavioral health pr ofessional", a licensed clinician including, but not
3 limited to, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, counselors, and nurses who
4 diagnose and tr eat mental health and substance use disorders;
5 (2) "Co-r esponse", a multidisciplinary partnership between peace officers and
6 behavioral health pr ofessionals that res ponds to emergency situations involving
7 behavioral health crises and people experiencing complex medical needs.
8 Participants in co-r esponse partnerships res pond to in-pr ogress 91 1 calls, 988 calls,
9 and requ ests for service fr om dispatch and other first res ponders, and include peace
10 officers and behavioral health pr ofessionals;
11 (3) "Law enforcem ent agency", any public agency that employs law enforcem ent
12 personnel;
13 (4) "Peace officer", the same meaning as defined in section 590.010.
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14 2. Except as pr ovided under subsection 3 of this section, a co-r esponse team
15 consisting of a behavioral health profession al and a peace officer shall res pond in all
16 emergency res ponse calls that ar e classified by emergency dispatch as "mental-health
17 r elated".
18 3. If emergency dispatch intelligence or on-scene assessment indicates that ther e
19 is an immediate, significant risk of violence, law enforcem ent may initially stage and
20 secur e the scene without a behavioral health pr ofessional. Once the scene is determined
21 to be secur e, the co-r esponse team shall be red ispatched if the incident r emains mental-
22 health-r elated. In lower acuity calls where no thr eat is indicated, a mobile crisis team
23 composed of behavioral health profes sionals without law enforcem ent pr esence may be
24 dispatched as the primary r esponder .
25 4. T o ensure implementation fidelity , the Missouri 91 1 service board, in
26 consultation with the department of mental health and local public dispatcher agencies,
27 shall develop uniform dispatch triage protocols to identify mental-health-r elated calls
28 and allocate co-r esponder , mobile crisis, or peace officer -only res ponse appr opriately .
29 All dispatchers shall receive at least eight hours of training in crisis identification and
30 safe triage.
31 5. Peace officers pr oviding emergency r esponse shall complete at least forty
32 hours of standardized behavioral-health crisis training within twelve months of
33 assignment to patr ol or emergency res ponse duties and refr esher training on an annual
34 basis. Such curriculum shall include instruction on:
35 (1) Recognizing behavioral health conditions and signs of decompensation;
36 (2) Suicide risk indicators and safe ref erral;
37 (3) V erbal de-escalation and noncoer cive crisis communication;
38 (4) T rauma-informed appr oaches and cultural competency;
39 (5) Legal framework for involuntary transport and patient rights; and
40 (6) Scenario-based skill practice and joint training with behavioral health
41 pr ofessionals.
42 6. (1) There is her eby creat ed in the state tr easury the "Behavioral Health Co-
43 Responder Grant Fund", which shall consist of moneys appr opriated by the general
44 assembly and any gifts, contributions, grants, or bequests receiv ed fr om federal, private,
45 or other sources . The state tr easurer shall be custodian of the fund. In accordance with
46 sections 30.170 and 30.180, the state tr easurer may appr ove disbursements. The fund
47 shall be a dedicated fund and, upon appr opriation, moneys in the fund shall be used
48 solely to support the following:
49 (a) Hiring and certifying behavioral health pr ofessionals for co-r esponse;
50 (b) T raining and joint simulation costs;
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51 (c) Data collection systems for pr ogram evaluation;
52 (d) Startup stipends for rural and underserved area;
53 (e) Startup grants for jurisdictions unable to staff full teams immediately; and
54 (f) Development of reg ional co-r esponse hubs.
55 (2) Notwithstanding the pro visions of section 33.080 to the contrary , any moneys
56 r emaining in the fund at the end of the biennium shall not r evert to the credit of the
57 general reven ue fund.
58 (3) The state tre asurer shall invest moneys in the fund in the same manner as
59 other funds ar e invested. Any interes t and moneys earned on such investments shall be
60 cr edited to the fund.
61 7. Law enforcem ent agencies shall collect standardized data for all mental-
62 health-r elated dispatches, which shall include the following:
63 (1) Pr esence or absence of a behavioral health profes sional on scene; and
64 (2) Incident outcome, which shall include the following classifications:
65 (a) Diversion to services;
66 (b) Emergency department transport, including voluntary or involuntary;
67 (c) Arr est;
68 (d) Use of for ce;
69 (e) Injuries; and
70 (f) Demographic variables.
71 8. No later than January 1, 2028, and each year ther eafter , the department of
72 public safety shall make a statewide r eport to the general assembly summarizing key
73 indicators, outcomes, costs, and r ecommendations.
74 9. No later than January 1, 2030, the general assembly shall contract an
75 independent evaluator to assess outcomes including, but not limited to, detentions, use of
76 for ce, costs, and linkage to services.
77 10. The department of public safety , in consultation with the department of
78 mental health, may pr omulgate all necessary rules and regulati ons for the
7 9 administration of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined
80 in section 536.010, that is creat ed under the authority delegated in this section shall
81 become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provi sions of chapter
82 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable
83 and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to
84 r eview , to delay the effective date, or to disappr ove and annul a rule are subsequently
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85 held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule pr oposed or
86 adopted after August 28, 2026, shall be invalid and void.
✔
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