Read the full stored bill text
EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 82
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR FITZWATER.
4494S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
JOINT RESOLUTION
Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri, an amendment repealing sections 3, 8, and 9 of
article III of the Constitution of Missouri, and adopting three new sections in lieu
thereof relating to the general assembly.
Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring therein:
That at the next general election to be held in the 1
state of Missouri, on Tuesday next following the first Monday 2
in November, 2026, or at a special election to be called by 3
the governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to 4
the qualified voters of this state, for adoption or 5
rejection, the following amendment to article III of the 6
Constitution of the state of Missouri:7
Section A. Sections 3, 8, and 9, article III, Constitution 1
of Missouri, are repealed and three new sections adopted in 2
lieu thereof, to be known as sections 3, 8, and 9, to read as 3
follows:4
Section 3. (a) The house of representatives shall 1
consist of one hundred [sixty-three] two members elected at 2
each general election and redistricted as provided in this 3
section. Each house district shall be wholly contained 4
within a single senate district and three house districts 5
shall be contained within each senate district created 6
pursuant to section 7 of this article. 7
SJR 82 2
(b) The house independent bipartisan citizens 8
commission shall redistrict the house of representatives 9
using the following methods, listed in order of priority: 10
(1) Districts shall be as nearly equal as practicable 11
in population, and shall be drawn on the basis of one 12
person, one vote. Districts are as nearly equal as 13
practicable in population if no district deviates by more 14
than one percent from the ideal population of the district, 15
as measured by dividing the number of districts into the 16
statewide population data being used, except that a district 17
may deviate by up to three percent if necessary to follow 18
political subdivision lines consistent with subdivision (4) 19
of this subsection; 20
(2) Districts shall be established in a manner so as 21
to comply with all requirements of the United States 22
Constitution and applicable federal laws, including, but not 23
limited to, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (as amended). The 24
following principles shall take precedence over any other 25
part of this constitution: no district shall be drawn in a 26
manner which results in a denial or abridgment of the right 27
of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of 28
race or color; and no district shall be drawn such that 29
members of any community of citizens protected by the 30
preceding clause have less opportunity than other members of 31
the electorate to participate in the political process and 32
to elect representatives of their choice; 33
(3) Subject to the requirements of subdivisions (1) 34
and (2) of this subsection, districts shall be composed of 35
contiguous territory as compact as may be. Areas which meet 36
only at the points of adjoining corners are not contiguous. 37
In general, compact districts are those which are square, 38
SJR 82 3
rectangular, or hexagonal in shape to the extent permitted 39
by natural or political boundaries; 40
(4) To the extent consistent with subdivisions (1) to 41
(3) of this subsection, communities shall be preserved. 42
Districts shall satisfy this requirement if district lines 43
follow political subdivision lines to the extent possible, 44
using the following criteria, in order of priority. First, 45
each county shall wholly contain as many districts as its 46
population allows. Second, if a county wholly contains one 47
or more districts, the remaining population shall be wholly 48
joined in a single district made up of population from 49
outside the county. If a county does not wholly contain a 50
district, then no more than two segments of a county shall 51
be combined with an adjoining county. Third, split counties 52
and county segments, defined as any part of the county that 53
is in a district not wholly within that county, shall each 54
be as few as possible. Fourth, as few municipal lines shall 55
be crossed as possible; 56
(5) Districts shall be drawn in a manner that achieves 57
both partisan fairness and, secondarily, competitiveness, 58
but the standards established by subdivisions (1) to (4) of 59
this subsection shall take precedence over partisan fairness 60
and competitiveness. "Partisan fairness" means that parties 61
shall be able to translate their popular support into 62
legislative representation with approximately equal 63
efficiency. "Competitiveness" means that parties' 64
legislative representation shall be substantially and 65
similarly responsive to shifts in the electorate's 66
preferences. 67
To this end, the average electoral performance of the 68
two political parties receiving the most votes in the three 69
preceding general elections for governor, for United States 70
SJR 82 4
Senate, and for President of the United States shall be 71
calculated. This index shall be defined as the total votes 72
received by each party in the three preceding general 73
elections for governor, for United States Senate, and for 74
President of the United States, divided by the total votes 75
cast for both parties in these elections. Using this index, 76
the total number of wasted votes for each party, summing 77
across all of the districts in the plan shall be 78
calculated. "Wasted votes" are votes cast for a losing 79
candidate or for a winning candidate in excess of the 80
threshold needed for victory. In any redistricting plan and 81
map of the proposed districts, the difference between the 82
two parties' total wasted votes, divided by the total votes 83
cast for the two parties, shall not exceed fifteen percent. 84
To promote competitiveness, the electoral performance 85
index shall be used to simulate elections in which the 86
hypothetical statewide vote shifts by one percent, two 87
percent, three percent, four percent, and five percent in 88
favor of each party. The vote in each individual district 89
shall be assumed to shift by the same amount as the 90
statewide vote. In each of these simulated elections, the 91
difference between the two parties' total wasted votes, 92
divided by the total votes cast for the two parties, shall 93
not exceed fifteen percent. 94
(c) Within sixty days after the population of this 95
state is reported to the President for each decennial census 96
of the United States or, in the event that a redistricting 97
plan has been invalidated by a court of competent 98
jurisdiction, within sixty days that such a ruling has been 99
made, the state committee and the congressional district 100
committees of each of the two political parties casting the 101
highest vote for governor at the last preceding general 102
SJR 82 5
election shall meet and the members of each committee shall 103
nominate, by a majority vote of the elected members of the 104
committee present, provided that a majority of the elected 105
members is present, members of their party, residents in 106
that district, in the case of a congressional district 107
committee, as nominees for the house independent bipartisan 108
citizens commission. No party shall select more than one 109
nominee from any one state legislative district. The 110
congressional district committees shall each submit to the 111
governor their list of two elected nominees. The state 112
committees shall each submit to the governor their list of 113
five elected nominees. Within thirty days thereafter, the 114
governor shall appoint a house independent bipartisan 115
citizens commission consisting of one nominee from each list 116
submitted by each congressional district committee and two 117
nominees from each list submitted by each state committee to 118
redistrict the state into one hundred and sixty-three 119
representative districts and to establish the numbers and 120
boundaries of said districts. No person shall be appointed 121
to both the house independent bipartisan citizens commission 122
and the senate independent bipartisan citizens commission 123
during the same redistricting cycle. 124
If any committee fails to submit a list within such 125
time, the governor shall appoint a member of his or her own 126
choice from the political party of the committee failing to 127
submit a list, provided that in the case of a congressional 128
district committee failing to submit a list, the person 129
appointed to the commission by the governor shall reside in 130
the congressional district of such committee. 131
Members of the commission shall be disqualified from 132
holding office as members of the general assembly for four 133
SJR 82 6
years following the date of the filing by the commission of 134
its final redistricting plan. 135
For the purposes of this Article, the term 136
congressional district committee or congressional district 137
refers to the congressional district committee or the 138
congressional district from which a congressman was last 139
elected, or, in the event members of congress from this 140
state have been elected at large, the term congressional 141
district committee refers to those persons who last served 142
as the congressional district committee for those districts 143
from which congressmen were last elected, and the term 144
congressional district refers to those districts from which 145
congressmen were last elected. Any action pursuant to this 146
section by the congressional district committee shall take 147
place only at duly called meetings, shall be recorded in 148
their official minutes and only members present in person 149
shall be permitted to vote. 150
(d) The commissioners so selected shall, on the 151
fifteenth day, excluding Sundays and state holidays, after 152
all members have been appointed, meet in the capitol 153
building and proceed to organize by electing from their 154
number a chairman, vice chairman and secretary. The 155
commission shall adopt an agenda establishing at least three 156
hearing dates on which hearings open to the public shall be 157
held to hear objections or testimony from interested 158
persons. A copy of the agenda shall be filed with the clerk 159
of the house of representatives within twenty-four hours 160
after its adoption. Executive meetings may be scheduled and 161
held as often as the commission deems advisable. 162
(e) Not later than five months after the appointment 163
of the commission, the commission shall file with the 164
secretary of state a tentative redistricting plan and map of 165
SJR 82 7
the proposed districts and during the ensuing fifteen days 166
shall hold such public hearings as may be necessary to hear 167
objections or testimony of interested persons. The 168
commission shall make public the tentative redistricting 169
plan and map of the proposed districts, as well as all 170
demographic and partisan data used in the creation of the 171
plan and map. 172
(f) Not later than six months after the appointment of 173
the commission, the commission shall file with the secretary 174
of state a final statement of the numbers and the boundaries 175
of the districts together with a map of the districts, and 176
no statement shall be valid unless approved by at least 177
seven-tenths of the members. 178
(g) After the final statement is filed, members of the 179
house of representatives shall be elected according to such 180
districts until a new redistricting plan is made as provided 181
in this section, except that if the final statement is not 182
filed within six months of the time fixed for the 183
appointment of the commission, the commission shall stand 184
discharged and the house of representatives shall be 185
redistricted using the same methods and criteria as 186
described in subsection (b) of this section by a commission 187
of six members appointed from among the judges of the 188
appellate courts of the state of Missouri by the state 189
supreme court, a majority of whom shall sign and file its 190
redistricting plan and map with the secretary of state 191
within ninety days of the date of the discharge of the house 192
independent bipartisan citizens commission. The judicial 193
commission shall make public the tentative redistricting 194
plan and map of the proposed districts, as well as all 195
demographic and partisan data used in the creation of the 196
plan and map. Thereafter, members of the house of 197
SJR 82 8
representatives shall be elected according to such districts 198
until a redistricting plan is made as provided in this 199
section. 200
(h) Each member of the commission shall receive as 201
compensation fifteen dollars a day for each day the 202
commission is in session but not more than one thousand 203
dollars, and, in addition, shall be reimbursed for his or 204
her actual and necessary expenses incurred while serving as 205
a member of the commission. 206
(i) No redistricting plan shall be subject to the 207
referendum. 208
(j) Any action expressly or implicitly alleging that a 209
redistricting plan violates this Constitution, federal law, 210
or the United States Constitution shall be filed in the 211
circuit court of Cole County and shall name the body that 212
approved the challenged redistricting plan as a defendant. 213
Only an eligible Missouri voter who sustains an individual 214
injury by virtue of residing in a district that exhibits the 215
alleged violation, and whose injury is remedied by a 216
differently drawn district, shall have standing. If the 217
court renders a judgment in which it finds that a completed 218
redistricting plan exhibits the alleged violation, its 219
judgment shall adjust only those districts, and only those 220
parts of district boundaries, necessary to bring the map 221
into compliance. The supreme court shall have exclusive 222
appellate jurisdiction upon the filing of a notice of appeal 223
within ten days after the judgment has become final. 224
Section 8. No one shall be elected to serve more than 1
[eight years total in any one house of the General Assembly 2
nor more than] sixteen years total in [both houses of] the 3
General Assembly. In applying this section, service in the 4
General Assembly resulting from an election prior to 5
SJR 82 9
December 3, 1992, or service of less than one year, in the 6
case of a member of the house of representatives, or two 7
years, in the case of a member of the senate, by a person 8
elected after the effective date of this section to complete 9
the term of another person, shall not be counted. 10
Section 9. [Until the convening of the Seventy-fourth 1
General Assembly the House of Representatives shall consist 2
of one hundred sixty-three members elected from the one 3
hundred sixty-three representative districts, as they 4
existed January 1, 1965.] Until the convening of the one 5
hundred seventh general assembly, the house of 6
representatives shall consist of one hundred sixty-three 7
members elected from one hundred sixty-three districts, as 8
they existed on January 1, 2025. Beginning with the one 9
hundred seventh general assembly, the house of 10
representatives shall consist of one hundred two members 11
elected from one hundred two districts, as such districts 12
are created pursuant to this constitution. 13
✓