The Missouri Constitution is the
state constitution of the
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
State
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
of
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
. It is the supreme law formulating the
law and government of Missouri, subject only to the
federal
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
, and the people. The fourth and current Missouri Constitution was adopted in 1945. It provides for three
branches of government
Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...
:
legislative
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...
(the
Missouri General Assembly
The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Senate and a 163-member House of Representatives. Members of both houses of the General Assembly are ...
),
executive
Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to:
Role or title
* Executive, a senior management role in an organization
** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators
** Executive dir ...
(the
Governor of Missouri
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...
), and
judicial
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudication, adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and app ...
(the
Supreme Court of Missouri
The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give ...
). It also sets up
local governments
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
in the form of
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
and
cities
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
.
History
The first constitution was written in 1820 in only 38 days, and was adopted on July 19, 1820.
One of the results of the
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a Slave states an ...
, Missouri was initially admitted to the Union as a slave state, and the constitution specifically excluded "free negroes and mulattoes" from the state. This "exclusion clause" initially forestalled the US Congress admitting Missouri to the union, but was chosen to be interpreted in a deliberately vague manner as
a "second" compromise. This constitution took effect the day Missouri joined the union as the twenty-fourth state, August 10, 1821.
During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, the
Missouri Constitutional Convention (1861-63) was elected to decide on secession. They chose against secession, and did not produce a new constitution. Instead, they operated as the ''de facto'' pro-Union government of Missouri when Governor
Claiborne Fox Jackson
Claiborne Fox Jackson (April 4, 1806 – December 6, 1862) was an American politician of the Democratic Party in Missouri. He was elected as the 15th Governor of Missouri, serving from January 3, 1861, until July 31, 1861, when he was for ...
and other politicians that supported the Confederacy fled from
Jefferson City
Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the principa ...
. They provided elections to a new constitutional convention, which was elected in November of 1864 and met in January of 1865, and passed a second Missouri state constitution that abolished slavery, ratified on June 6, 1865. This second constitution was known as the "Draconian Constitution" due to its loyalty oath provisions, which were struck down by the US Supreme Court in ''
Cummings v. Missouri Cummings may refer to:
Places Canada
* Cummings, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated hamlet
United States
* Cummings, Mendocino County, California, an unincorporated community
* Cummings, Kansas
* Cummings, North Dakota, an unincorporated commu ...
'' (1867).
This constitution remained in effect for ten years.
The fourth constitutional convention was held in 1875, which drafted the state's third constitution.
[ The convention met from May 5 to August 2, and the resulting constitution provided for, among other things, separate schools for African-American children.] In the early 1900s, the Constitution of 1875 was amended to allow constitutional amendment by the initiative
In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a pu ...
process.[
The state's fifth constitutional convention was held from 1922 to 1923. This convention proposed a slate of twenty-one amendments instead of a new constitution.]
The delegates assembled in Jefferson City from May 15, 1922 to November 6, 1923. The ballot form permitted a separate vote on each amendment with a simple majority allowing adoption. Seven of the 21 amendments were adopted. The election details are available in the 1925-1926 Official Manual of Missouri.
In the early 20th century, Missouri was dominated by corrupt political "bosses", such as Tom Pendergast
Thomas Joseph Pendergast (July 22, 1872 – January 26, 1945), also known as T. J. Pendergast, was an American political boss who controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri, from 1925 to 1939.
Pendergast only briefly held elected ...
of Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
. In reaction to this, reformers used the initiative to call for a sixth constitutional convention, and the initiative was passed by the voters in 1942. The voters ratified the new constitution in 1945.[ The Constitution of 1945 remains Missouri's current constitution.][ Since 1945, there have been at least 119 amendments made to the Constitution.][ In recent years, some of these have been both controversial and high-profile, such as legalizing commercial gambling in 1993, Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 (2006) ( allowing the production of human embryos for stem cell research), ]Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 (2004)
Constitutional Amendment 2 of 2004 is an amendment to the Missouri Constitution that prohibited same-sex marriages from being recognized in Missouri. The Amendment passed via public referendum on August 3, 2004 with 71% of voters supporting and ...
(an amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
), and an English-only amendment in 2008. On November 6, 2018, a constitutional amendment was passed that legalized and regulated medical marijuana
Medical cannabis, or medical marijuana (MMJ), is cannabis and cannabinoids that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has not been rigorously tested due to production and governmental restrictions ...
(see Cannabis in Missouri
Cannabis in Missouri is legal for recreational use. A ballot initiative to legalize recreational use passed by a 53–47 margin on November 8, 2022. Possession for adults 21 and over became legal on December 8, 2022, with the first licensed sale ...
).
According to Article XII of the present constitution, the people of Missouri are given the option to call a new constitutional convention every 20 years through an automatic referendum that appears on that year's ballot. This has been voted on in 1962, 1982, and 2002, and will be voted on again in 2022. To date, these referendums have not passed.
Articles
Articles of the Constitution
The 1945 constitution starts with a preamble that was also used in the 1875 constitution. It reads:
''We, the people of Missouri, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His goodness, do establish this Constitution for the better government of the state.''
The remainder of the constitution consists of fourteen articles as of 2018.
Article I: Bill of Rights
Article I enumerates the rights of all citizens of the State of Missouri. These include that all political power is vested in and derived from the people, to alter and abolish their constitution and form of government whenever they may deem it necessary to their safety and happiness, the inherent rights “all persons have a natural right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the enjoyment of the gains of their own industry,” the definition of treason, the right to trial by jury, and that marriage in the State of Missouri is defined as being between a man and a woman.
Remaining Articles
*Article II - The Distribution of Powers
*Article III - Legislative Department
*Article IV - Executive Department
*Article V - Judicial Department
*Article VI - Local Government
*Article VII - Public Officers
*Article VIII - Suffrage and Elections
*Article IX - Education
*Article X - Taxation
*Article XI - Corporations
*Article XII - Amending the Constitution
*Article XIII - Public Employees
*Article XIV - Medical Cannabis
See also
* Law and government of Missouri
** Missouri General Assembly
The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Senate and a 163-member House of Representatives. Members of both houses of the General Assembly are ...
** Governor of Missouri
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...
** Supreme Court of Missouri
The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give ...
*Missouri Constitutional Convention of 1861–1863 The Missouri Constitutional Convention of 1861–1863 was a constitutional convention held in the state of Missouri during the American Civil War. The convention was elected in early 1861, and voted against secession. When open fighting broke out b ...
*List of Missouri ballot measures
The following is a list of statewide initiatives and referendums modifying state law and proposing state constitutional amendments in Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area ...
External links
Missouri Constitution on the Internet
Missouri Constitution in PDF Form
The State of Missouri Website
References
{{Constitutions of the United States
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...