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Want to renew your license Friday? Many Missouri offices are closed for Truman Day

Truman Day celebrates the only Missourian to become president, Harry S. Truman. It's celebrated each year on or around his birthday, May 8.
City of Independence
Truman Day celebrates the only Missourian to become president, Harry S. Truman. It's celebrated each year on or around his birthday, May 8.

Truman Day celebrates the only Missourian to become president, Harry S. Truman. It's celebrated each year on or around his birthday, May 8.

State and county offices across Missouri will close Friday in observance of Truman Day.

The annual holiday celebrates the 33rd president of the United States, Harry S. Truman, the only president born in Missouri.

The Missouri Department of Revenue will be closed May 8 in recognition of the state holiday. However, the state says it's up to individual license offices to decide if they'll open Friday or not. You can check to see if your local office is open on the state's license office locator.

County courthouses across the state will be closed Friday, along with state-run job centers. However, schools, post offices and all federal offices will remain open.

The Missouri legislature established Truman Day as a state holiday in 1967, and it was first celebrated the next year. Some state officials have argued that the holiday costs the state money.

In 2010, then-Gov. Jay Nixon proposed eliminating Truman Day and two other state holidays in an effort to save money. Nixon said the paid holiday for state workers cost Missouri more than a million dollars each year in overtime and comp time. Legislators did not approve the proposal.

The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Independence will commemorate Truman Day with a wreath-laying ceremony at 9 a.m. Friday. Admission to the museum will be free all day.

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Rob Edwards is a journalist with more than two decades of experience in multiple newsrooms managing reporters and day-to-day content. Most recently, Rob worked at KSDK-TV in St. Louis, where he served as Managing Editor and Executive Producer. He helped lead news coverage during some of our community’s toughest challenges.
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