Gov. Mike Kehoe signed 19 bills into Missouri law Thursday, including a wide-reaching public safety bill that automatically expunges criminal records for some misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies.
Often called Clean Slate legislation, the bill would automatically expunge all eligible offenses within a specific timeframe.
Eligible misdemeanors would be expunged after one year since the final disposition of the offense. For eligible felonies, that time frame increases to three years.
Noneligible offenses include violent crimes and offenses against children.
Under the new law, an offender would be limited to three misdemeanor and two felony expungements.
Proponents of the legislation say it could help nonviolent offenders find stable employment. The Missouri Highway Patrol will run the program.
The legislation also creates an offense of masked intimidation.
That is defined as someone who harasses, intimidates or threatens someone while concealing their face with a mask or other covering with the intent of scaring someone over their safety.
That offense would not apply to people who wear a mask for their job or for anything that would be protected by the First Amendment.
Additionally, the public safety bill contains policies such as:
- Creating the new offense of gift card fraud.
- Making it illegal to operate a drone within the boundary of any "critical infrastructure facility."
- Requiring someone convicted of killing a parent while drunk driving to pay child support if the surviving parent or guardian files a petition for that money.
- Necessitating criminal background checks for every staff member or volunteer of an overnight or residential camp.
Kehoe also signed a bill that creates greater penalties for drunken driving.
The legislation shifts several offenses of driving while intoxicated one felony class higher, which carries increased punishment.
They include injuring, severely injuring and killing someone while driving drunk.
Anyone who is found guilty of causing the death of another person while driving drunk will not be eligible for probation or parole until they have served at least five years in prison.
The bill also requires proof of a vehicle breathalyzer being installed in order for someone with a drunk driving offense that caused personal injury or property damage to gain limited or restricted driving privileges. The breathalyzer tests a person's blood-alcohol level and can prevent a car from starting.
The governor also signed a bill into law that creates age verification requirements for access to pornography websites. Users must prove they are at least 18.
The bill is putting into statute rules on age verification that Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway implemented last year.
Those rules have already caused changes. Pornhub, a major website in the industry, blocked access to Missouri users last year.
In a statement, Kehoe said the safety bills he signed strengthen the laws that protect families.
"Public safety will always be this administration's top priority," Kehoe said.
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