Missouri Bills

HB 1745 requires employees to file a complaint with the state labor department before suing employers for minimum wage or overtime violations, effective January 1, 2027. Employees must submit pay stubs, time sheets, and all relevant pay periods as evidence within the complaint. The department must investigate within 90 days, issue findings, and may facilitate settlement offers between parties before a "right to sue" notice is issued. This process directly affects employees seeking unpaid wages and employers facing wage law violations, mandating administrative review before court action.

HB 2368 prohibits AI developers and deployers in Missouri from advertising or representing artificial intelligence as a mental health professional or capable of providing therapy services. The bill directly affects companies or individuals creating or using AI systems in the state, requiring them to avoid misleading claims about AI's clinical capabilities. Violations would be enforced by the Missouri Attorney General under the state's consumer protection laws, with civil penalties of $10,000 for first offenses and $20,000 for subsequent violations. The bill is currently in early legislative stages (prefiled and first reading) and does not regulate AI use in mental health treatment itself, only advertising practices.

HB 2403 creates a new "Transfer Board" to review appeals when students are affected by decisions made by statewide school sports and activity associations (like those organizing high school tournaments). The board, composed of six members appointed by legislative leaders and one by the governor, will handle appeals filed by students within 30 business days of a decision. The board must meet within five business days of receiving an appeal and issue a final ruling within 24 hours. This bill directly affects students in public schools participating in activities facilitated by these associations, ensuring a neutral, time-bound process for challenging association rulings.

HB 2498 modifies Missouri's procedures for handling fingerprints of juveniles arrested for serious offenses. It requires law enforcement to collect fingerprints for juveniles under 18 (not already certified as adults) arrested for offenses that would be felonies if committed by an adult, but ensures the juvenile's name is excluded from the central repository using special fingerprint cards. These fingerprints and a unique identifier are then sent to the central repository and the court without revealing the juvenile's name. The bill also specifies that juveniles over 15.5 years old accused of non-felony traffic violations (where juvenile court lacks jurisdiction) should not be fingerprinted unless certified as adults.

HB 2307 is a procedural bill that designates the Missouri Military Academy as the state's official military academy. It does not change the academy's operations, funding, or programs - only formally naming it as Missouri's designated military academy in state law. The bill directly affects the Missouri Military Academy by granting it this official title under state statute. As a naming resolution, it has no substantive policy impact beyond recognition. (1 sentence summary: This bill formally names the Missouri Military Academy as Missouri's official military academy in state law.)

HB 2502 modifies Missouri's charter school regulations, primarily focusing on operational requirements and closure procedures for charter schools. It requires charter schools to include detailed performance contracts covering academic standards, financial planning, organizational structure, and student discipline policies. Crucially, the bill specifies that during school closures, all student records must be transferred to the local school district for archival, and outlines procedures for handling business records, financial obligations, and asset disposition. The bill also mandates that at least one-third of new charters must serve high-risk students or dropouts, with specific reporting requirements for sponsors and the state board of education. This legislation directly affects charter school operators, sponsors, and local school districts managing charter school transitions.

HB 1830 modifies Missouri law to establish a new process for merging city and county library services in specific circumstances. It allows cities and counties with equal library tax levies and a county population under 250,000 to petition for a "city-county library" board, subject to approval by both governing bodies within 30 days. The new nine-member board is appointed based on population comparisons: if the county is larger, five members are appointed by the county; if the city is larger, five members are appointed by the city mayor (or by mayors of top four cities in larger counties). The bill requires merging unspent funds from both libraries and dissolving the separate city board upon approval. This affects St. Charles County (as the example) and any other qualifying Missouri county.

HB 1767, the "Missouri Educators and Parental Empowerment and Rights Act," establishes specific rights for parents and teachers in Missouri public schools. It grants parents the right to access curricula, review school records, receive information about teachers and school data collection, and visit schools during regular hours. Teachers are granted rights including protection from physical abuse or threats, freedom of speech, guaranteed preparation time, and a safe teaching environment. School districts must adopt policies ensuring transparency - such as timely safety incident notifications to parents and clear procedures for parent visits - to support these rights. The bill directly affects parents of K-12 students and school staff in Missouri’s public school districts.

HB 1960 designates the smooth chanterelle mushroom (scientifically known as *Cantharellus lateritius*) as Missouri's official state mushroom. This symbolic bill amends state law to formally recognize the fungus as a state emblem, with no practical policy effects or direct impact on residents or regulations. The change is purely ceremonial, aligning with Missouri's tradition of designating official state symbols.

SS#2/SB 1233 - This act modifies provisions relating to the licensing of certain professionals. ACCOUNTANTS (SECTIONS 326.256 TO 326.292) This act modifies the requirements for licensing of accountants. This act provides that an applicant for examination shall provide proof that the applicant has obtained a baccalaureate degree or a post-baccalaureate degree, instead of proof of completion of at least 120 semester hours of college education. Additionally, for licensure, the applicant shall either hold a baccalaureate degree, a baccalaureate degree and 30 additional semester hours of college education, or a post-baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university recognized by the Missouri State Board of Accountancy ("Board") with the total educational program including a Board-appropriate accounting concentration or equivalent. If the applicant has a baccalaureate degree, the applicant shall have two years of experience. If the applicant has a baccalaureate degree and 30 additional semester hours of college education or a post-baccalaureate degree, the applicant shall have at least one year of experience. This act also repeals the eligibility for examination if the applicant expects to meet the educational requirements within 60 days. This act changes the educational and examination requirements for reciprocity of those individuals whose principal place of business, domicile, or residency is not in this state and who hold a valid and unrestricted public accounting license in another state. Current law provides that such non-Missouri individuals shall have all the privileges of licensees without the need to obtain a license, notify or register with the Board, or pay a fee if the license has been determined by the Board to be in substantial equivalence with the Missouri licensure requirements or if the individual's qualifications are substantially equivalent to Missouri licensure requirements. This act provides that a non-Missouri individual, whose license is in good standing, shall have all the privileges of a licensee without the need to obtain a license, notify or register with the Board, or pay a fee if the individual was required to show proof of passage of the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and the educational and experience requirements of Missouri licensees. Additionally, non-Missouri individuals, whose licenses are in good standing to practice public accountancy from any state as of December 31, 2024, and who has practice privileges in this state as of December 31, 2024, shall continue to have such privileges. Rather than receiving verification on substantial equivalence of an individual's qualifications from the NASBA National Qualification Appraisal Service, the Board may license a person whose qualifications the Board verifies to be comparable to the Missouri licensure requirements. Sole practitioners or single member LLCs that use "certified public accountant," "CPA," or other abbreviations, but that do not offer nor perform attest services or other services subject to peer review may request exemption from the Board for the firm permit requirements. This act provides that the rules regarding peer review shall include reasonable provision for compliance by a firm showing that it has undergone a peer review that is comparable, rather than satisfactory equivalent, to peer review generally required under current law within three years. Lastly, the Board may charge a fee for oversight of peer reviews, provided that the fee charged shall be comparable, rather than substantially equivalent, to the cost of oversight. These provisions are identical to provisions in the perfected HCS/HB 1797 (2026). SOCIAL WORK SUPERVISORS (SECTION 337.600) This act modifies the definitions of a "qualified advanced macro supervisor," "qualified baccalaureate supervisor," and "qualified clinical supervisor" to provide that such person is a licensed social worker who has practiced social work for which he or she is supervising the applicant for a minimum of three, instead of five, years. This provision is identical to SB 1092 (2026), SB 1417 (2026), HB 1963 (2026), SB 479 (2025), and SB 563 (2025) and is substantially similar to HB 886 (2025). SPEECH PATHOLOGISTS AND AUDIOLOGISTS (SECTION 345.050) This act modifies the requirements for licensure as a speech pathologist or audiologist by providing for completion of a clinical fellowship under the direct supervision of a licensed speech-language pathologist in good standing, rather than under the direct supervision of a person licensed by the state of Missouri in the profession in which the applicant seeks to be licensed. This provision is identical to a provision in SB 1405 (2026), HCS/HB 2372 (2026), in HCS/SS/SB 7 (2025), in the perfected SS/SB 61 (2025), in the perfected HCS/HB 268 (2025), SB 431 (2025), in the perfected HB 478 (2025), in HB 765 (2025), and in SCS/HB 834 (2025), and is substantially similar to the perfected HB 2591 (2026). SEVERABILITY (SECTION 1) In the event that any section, provision, clause, phrase, or word of this act or the application of the act is declared invalid under the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of the State of Missouri, the General Assembly intends for the severability of this act. KATIE O'BRIEN

HB 3173 prohibits the possession, sale, distribution, and advertising of products containing specific compounds derived from kratom, including those with over 2% of 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) or mitragynine pseudoindoxyl. It directly affects businesses selling such products and consumers who purchase them. The law includes an exception allowing research institutions to handle these products for scientific or medical research. This bill aims to restrict access to certain kratom-based products while permitting legitimate research activities.

SB 1620 allows retail vendors to round the final total of cash transactions to the nearest five cents, avoiding fractional pennies. Specifically, totals ending in $0.01-$0.02 or $0.06-$0.07 round down, while $0.03-$0.04 or $0.08-$0.09 round up. This rounding applies only to cash payments and does not change how tax is calculated or reported - vendors must still remit the correct tax amount based on established brackets. The bill directly affects businesses collecting sales tax on cash sales in Missouri, ensuring simplified transaction handling without altering tax liability.