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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 3429
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE MOSLEY .
7352H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 595, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to the of fice of
missing and murdered African American women and girls.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 595, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 595.326, to read as follows:
595.326 . 1. The dire ctor of the department of public safety shall establish and
2 maintain an office within the Missouri department of public safety dedicated to
3 pr eventing and ending the targeting of African American women and girls.
4 2. (1) The director shall appoint an executive dir ector for the office who is a
5 person closely connected to the African American community and who is highly
6 knowledgeable about criminal investigations. The director is encouraged to consider
7 candidates for appointment who are recomm ended by members of the African
8 American community .
9 (2) The executive director may select, appoint, and compensate out of available
10 funds assistants and employees as necessary to discharge the office's res ponsibilities.
11 3. (1) The office has the following duties:
12 (a) Advocate in the legislatur e for legislation that will facilitate the
1 3 accomplishment of mandates identified in the rep ort of the task for ce on missing and
14 murder ed African American women;
15 (b) Advocate for state agencies to take actions to facilitate the accomplishment of
16 mandates identified in the report of the task for ce on missing and murdered African
17 American women;
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 (c) Develop recomm endations for legislative and agency actions to addr ess
19 injustice in the criminal justice system's res ponse to cases of missing and murder ed
20 African American women and girls;
21 (d) Facilitate res earch to refi ne the mandates in the r eport of the task for ce on
22 missing and murder ed African American women and to assess the potential efficacy ,
23 feasibility , and impact of the rec ommendations;
24 (e) Collect data on missing person and homicide cases involving African
25 American women and girls, including the total number of cases, the rate at which the
26 cases ar e solved, the length of time the cases r emain open, and a comparison to similar
27 cases involving differ ent demographic grou ps;
28 (f) Collect data on Amber alerts, including the total number of Amber alerts
29 issued, the total number of Amber alerts that involve African American girls, and the
30 outcome of cases involving Amber alerts disaggr egated by the child's race and sex;
31 (g) Collect data on r eports of missing African American girls, including the
32 number classified as voluntary runaways, and a comparison to similar cases involving
33 differ ent demographic gr oups;
34 (h) Analyze and assess the intersection between cases involving missing and
35 murder ed African American women and girls and labor trafficking and sex trafficking;
36 (i) Develop r ecommendations for legislative, agency , and community actions to
37 addr ess the intersection between cases involving missing and murdered African
38 American women and girls and labor trafficking and sex trafficking;
39 (j) Analyze and assess the intersection between cases involving murder ed
40 African American women and girls and domestic violence, including prior instances of
41 domestic violence within the family or relat ionship, whether an offender had prior
42 convictions for domestic assault or rela ted offenses, and whether the offender used a
43 fir earm in the murder or any prior instances of domestic assault;
44 (k) Develop rec ommendations for legislative, agency , and community actions to
45 addr ess the intersection between cases involving murdered African American women
46 and girls and domestic violence;
47 (l) Develop tools and process es to evaluate the implementation and impact of the
48 efforts of the office;
49 (m) T rack and collect Missouri data on missing and murder ed African American
50 women and girls, and pr ovide statistics upon public or legislative inquiry;
51 (n) Facilitate technical assistance for local and state law enforcem ent agencies
52 during active cases involving missing and murdered African American women and
53 girls;
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54 (o) Conduct case re views and r eport on the r esults of case revi ews for the
55 following types of cases involving missing and murder ed African American women and
56 girls: cold cases for missing African American women and girls and death investigation
57 r eview for cases of African American women and girls ruled as suicide or overdose
58 under suspicious circu mstances;
59 (p) Conduct case r eviews of the prosecution and sentencing for cases where a
60 perpetrator committed a violent or exploitative crime against an African American
61 woman or girl. These case r eviews shall identify those cases wher e the perpetrator is a
62 r epeat offender;
63 (q) Pr epar e draft legislation as necessary to allow the office access to the data
64 necessary for the office to conduct the r eviews requi red in this section and advocate for
65 passage of that legislation;
66 (r) Review sentencing guidelines for crimes r elated to missing and murder ed
67 African American women and girls, r ecommend changes if needed, and advocate for
68 consistent implementation of the guidelines acr oss Missouri courts;
69 (s) Develop and maintain communication with r elevant divisions in the
70 department of public safety reg arding any cases involving missing and murder ed
71 African American women and girls and on pr ocedur es for investigating cases involving
72 missing and murder ed African American women and girls;
73 (t) Coordinate, as relev ant, with federal efforts, and efforts in neighboring states.
74 (2) As used in this subdivision, the following terms mean:
75 (a) "Labor trafficking":
76 a. The recruitm ent, transportation, transfer , harboring, enticement, provi sion,
77 obtaining, or recei pt of a person by any means, in furtherance of:
78 (i) Debt bondage;
79 (ii) For ced or coerced labor or services;
80 (iii) Slavery or practices similar to slavery; or
81 (iv) The r emoval of organs thr ough the use of coerci on or intimidation; or
82 b. Receiving profit or anything of value, knowing or having reas on to know it is
83 derived fr om an act described in subparagraph a. of this paragraph;
84 (b) "Sex trafficking":
85 a. Receiving, recru iting, enticing, harboring, pr oviding, or obtaining by any
86 means an individual to aid in the pro stitution of the individual; or
87 b. Receiving profit or anything of value, knowing or having reas on to know it is
88 derived fr om an act described in subparagraph a. of this paragraph.
89 4. In fulfilling its duties, the office may coordinate, as useful, with stakeholder
90 gr oups that were re present ed on the task for ce on missing and murdered African
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91 American women and state agencies that ar e r esponsible for the systems that play a r ole
92 in investigating, pr osecuting, and adjudicating cases involving violence committed
93 against African American women and girls; those who have a r ole in supporting or
94 advocating for missing or murder ed African American women and girls and the people
95 who seek justice for them; and those who r epresent the inter ests of African American
96 people. This includes the following entities: Missouri Police Chiefs Association;
97 Missouri Sheriffs' Association; Missouri Peace Officers Association; Missouri
9 8 Association of Pr osecuting Attorneys; United States Attorney's Office; juvenile
99 courts; Missouri Cor oners' and Medical Examiners' Association; United States Coast
100 Guard; state agencies, including the departments of health and senior services,
101 elementary and secondary education, corr ections, and public safety; service pro viders
102 who offer legal services, advocacy , and other services to African American women and
103 girls; African American women and girls who are survivors; and organizations and
104 leadership fr om urban and statewide African American communities.
105 5. The office shall r eport on measurable outcomes achieved to meet its statutory
106 duties, along with specific objectives and outcome measur es prop osed for the following
107 year . The r eport shall include data and statistics on missing and murdered African
108 American women and girls in Missouri, including names, dates of disappearance, and
109 dates of death, to the extent the data is publicly available. The office shall submit the
110 r eport by January fifteenth each year to the chairs and ranking minority members of
111 the legislative committees with primary jurisdiction over public safety .
112 6. Ther e is hereby cr eated in the state trea sury the "Missing and Murder ed
113 African American W omen and Girls Fund", which shall consist of moneys appr opriated
114 by the general assembly , gifts, and grants. The state tr easurer shall be custodian of the
115 fund. In accordance with sections 30.170 and 30.180, the state tr easurer may appr ove
116 disbursements. The fund shall be a dedicated fund and money in the fund shall be used
117 solely by the direc tor of public safety for the purposes authorized by this section.
118 Notwithstanding the pro visions of section 33.080 to the contrary , any moneys rem aining
119 in the fund at the end of the biennium shall not r evert to the cred it of the general
120 r evenue fund. The state tr easurer shall invest moneys in the fund in the same manner as
121 other funds ar e invested. Any interes t and moneys earned on such investments shall be
122 cr edited to the fund.
123 7. (1) The office shall issue grants to community-based organizations that
124 pr ovide services designed to pr event or end the targeting of African American women or
125 girls, or to pro vide assistance to victims of offenses that targeted African American
126 women or girls.
127 (2) Grant r ecipients shall use money to:
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128 (a) Pr ovide services designed to re duce or preven t crimes or other negative
129 behaviors that target African American women or girls;
130 (b) Pr ovide training to the community about how to handle situations and
131 crimes involving the targeting of African American women and girls, including but not
132 limited to training for law enforcem ent officers, county attorneys, city attorneys, judges,
133 and other criminal justice partners; or
134 (c) Pr ovide services to African American women and girls who are victims of
135 crimes or other offenses, or to the family members of missing and murdered African
136 American women and girls.
137 (3) Applicants shall apply in a form and manner established by the office.
138 (4) Grant r ecipients shall pr ovide an annual repo rt to the office that includes:
139 (a) The services provi ded by the grant r ecipient;
140 (b) The number of individuals served in the pr evious year; and
141 (c) Any other information requ ired by the office.
142 (5) On or befor e February first of each year , the office shall repor t to the
143 legislative committees of the general assembly with jurisdiction over public safety on the
144 work of grant reci pients, including a description of the number of entities awarded
145 grants, the amount of those grants, and the number of individuals served by the
146 grantees.
147 8. The office director shall have access to correc tions data and medical data
148 maintained by an agency and classified as private data on individuals or confidential
149 data on individuals to the extent the data is necessary for the office to perform its duties
150 under this section.
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