SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY WEBSITE - SECTIONS 43.650 & 589.402

Under current law, information regarding all sex offenders is placed on a website for public access. This act provides that the website only include the information for unclassified and tier III offenders. The Highway Patrol is required to maintain a separate registry, which only law enforcement agencies will be able to access, that provides information regarding all sex offenders.

This act removes the temporary, work, and school addresses of sex offenders and information related to vehicles owned by sex offenders from the sex offender registry website. In addition, it provides that the website shall only include a current photograph of the individual taken by the registering official rather than any photographs of the offender. Information concerning the status of the offender's term of incarceration, probation, or parole is added to the website.

This act excludes certain registered sex offenders from the website, including juvenile offenders and witnesses under active federal protection. Also, excluded are offenders committing felonious restraint or kidnapping a minor when no sexual conduct occurred during the offense.

All of the above restrictions and requirements also apply to county law enforcement agency sex offender websites.

These provisions are similar to HCS/HB 1700 (2012).

These provisions have an effective date of Jan. 1, 2014.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE - SECTIONS 339.100, 375.1312, & 455.010 to 527.290

This act modifies provisions relating to domestic violence and makes various changes to the domestic violence chapter as follows:

(1) Provides for the consistent use of the terms "person" rather than "adult" and the use of "domestic violence" rather than "abuse" in the domestic violence chapter;

(2) Provides for the consistent use of "stalking" to ensure that the provisions of the chapter apply to instances of both domestic abuse and stalking that does not involve a family or household member;

(3) Provides that a court must order a protective order if the petitioner has proven the allegation by a preponderance of the evidence and the respondent cannot show his or her actions were otherwise justified under the law;

(3) Under this act, notice for both ex parte and full orders of protection shall have priority over other non-emergency actions;

(4) The provisions requiring a court to "dismiss a petitioner" when there are insufficient allegations have been revised to provide that the court shall deny the ex parte order and dismiss the petition; and

(5) Service on a custodial parent, guardian or guardian ad litem for a juvenile respondent will require the person to bring the respondent to court.

Also, current law provides for an exception to the requirement for public notice of a name change for instances where the person changing his or her name is a victim of domestic violence. This act extends such exception to prohibit publication on CaseNet or through other any system operated by the judiciary that is designed to provide public case information electronically. Section 527.290.2

These provisions are identical to HCS/SB 222 (2013) and the truly agreed to and finally passed SS/SCS/HCS/HB 215 (2013), and are substantially similar to HB 281 (2013).

SEXUAL OFFENSES - SECTIONS 160.261 to 217.010, 556.036 to 556.061, 558.018, 558.026, 559.105.8, 559.117, 566.020 to 566.226, 589.015, 590.700, & 632.480

Under this act, the crimes of forcible rape and sexual assault are renamed first and second degree rape, the crimes of forcible sodomy and deviate sexual assault are renamed first and second degree sodomy, and the crimes of sexual abuse and first degree sexual misconduct are renamed first and second degree sexual abuse. Second and third degree sexual misconduct are renamed first and second degree sexual misconduct.

References throughout the statutes to the former names are updated to reflect the change.

Under current law, forcible rape, forcible sodomy and sexual abuse all occur when a person engages in certain specified sexual conduct with another person by forcible compulsion. This act provides that a person violates the law when engaging in the sexual conduct with another person who is incapacitated, incapable of consent, or lacks the capacity to consent, or by forcible compulsion.

This act provides a sentencing enhancement for the crimes of rape in the first degree, statutory rape in the first or second degree, sodomy in the first degree, statutory sodomy in the first or second degree, child molestation, sexual misconduct involving a child, and sexual trafficking of a child for child victims of such crimes when the actor has also been found guilty of incest against the victim.

Under current law, assent does not constitute consent if it is given by a person who due to youth, mental disease or defect, or intoxication is manifestly unable to make a reasonable judgement regarding the conduct charged. This act provides that a drug-induced state or any other reason can result in the person being unable to consent.

In addition, this act repeals current law specifying that a person is not to be considered incapacitated if the person became incapacitated after consenting to an act and a crime is not committed when an offender reasonably believed the victim consented to the act and was not incapacitated.

Current law provides that multiple sentences of imprisonment must run concurrently unless the court specifies that the sentences are to run consecutively, except when the sentences are for the crimes of rape or sodomy, in which case the sentences for those crimes must run consecutively. Under this act, sentences for the crimes of first degree statutory rape and first degree statutory sodomy must also run consecutively.

These provisions are identical to provisions of the truly agreed to and finally passed SS/SCS/HCS/HB 215 (2013) and the truly agreed to and finally passed SCS/HB 301 (2013), and are similar to provisions of SB 214 (2013), HB 280 (2013), HCS/HB 371 (2013), and HCS/HB 210 (2013).

Section 556.061 contains an emergency clause.

CHILD ABUSE - SECTION 568.060

This act makes child abuse a Class A felony if the child dies as a result of injuries sustained during the act.

This provision contains an emergency clause.

This provision is identical to the truly agreed to and finally passed SCS/HCS/HB 505 (2013) and HB 831 (2013).

SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY - SECTION 589.400

This act requires sex offenders to register with the chief county law enforcement official within five business days rather than three days. Under this act, a person who refuses to complete the registration or fails to register within five business days of release commits the crime of failure to register.

This act requires the chief law enforcement official in the county to forward all copies of completed sex offender registration forms to cities, towns, villages, and campus law enforcement agencies within the county rather than allowing such entities to request copies of the forms.

Under current law, a person who is pardoned of the offense requiring registration does not have to continue registering as a sex offender. This act limits the exception for out-of-state pardons, which must explicitly state that the person no longer has to register in order for the exception to apply.

This act modifies the fees for registering and reporting as a sex offender.

Offenders found guilty of the certain, specified crimes no longer have to register as sex offenders under this act.

Current law allows offenders who were 19 years of age or younger whose victim was 13 years of age or older to petition for removal from the registry. This act lowers the age of the victim to 12 years of age or older.

This act specifies that sex offenders who were found guilty before the enactment of the state or federal sex offender registry are only required to register if currently incarcerated or under the supervision of the Department of Corrections.

These provisions are similar to HCS/HB 1700 (2012).

These provisions have an effective date of Jan. 1, 2014.

COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT NOTICE PROCEDURES - SECTION 589.402.4

This act repeals a provision that allows the chief law enforcement officer in a county to publish sex offender information in the local newspaper.

Instead, such law enforcement officers may notify any school and child care facility that a sex offender is residing, working, or attending school within five miles of the facility.

These provisions are similar to HCS/HB 1700 (2012).

RELEASE OF SEX OFFENDERS FROM DETENTION OR PROBATION - SECTIONS 589.403 & 589.405

Under current law, the official in charge of a facility in which sex offenders are held must inform such offenders of their duty to register prior to release, complete each offender's initial registration form, and forward it within three business days to the chief law enforcement officer of the county in which the person expects to reside. If the residence is out-of-state, the official must forward the registration to the Highway Patrol. If the offender is on probation, only has to pay a fine, or is released from a county jail, the court must inform the offender of registration requirements and obtain the offender’s expected address.

Under this act, the official in charge must complete the notification of duty to register form at least seven days prior to release and forward the notification form within three business days of release along with the offender's registration to the Highway Patrol in addition to the local law enforcement agency if the offender plans to live in Missouri. If the person does not plan to live in Missouri, the notification and registration forms must be forwarded by the Highway Patrol to the chief law enforcement officer in the area of the other state in which offender plans to live.

In addition, this act requires the chief law enforcement officer where the offender plans to live, if the offender plans to live in Missouri, to enter the offender's registration information into MULES and on the local sex offender registry within three days of receiving the offender's registration form from a facility. The Highway Patrol must enter the information into MULES if the offender does not plan to live in Missouri.

If the offender is on probation, the act requires that the court make it a condition of probation that the offender report within five business days to the chief county law enforcement officer in the county in which the offender expects to live.

If the offender is not placed on probation, the court must complete the initial notification of duty to register form and forward the form within three business days to the Highway Patrol. If the offender lives in Missouri, the court must also forward a copy of the notification to the chief law enforcement officer in the county in which the offender lives within three business days. If the offender does not live in Missouri, the court must order the offender to register as a sex offender within five business days with the chief law enforcement officer with jurisdiction in the other state and the court must order the Highway Patrol to forward a copy of the notification form to that law enforcement officer.

These provisions are similar to HCS/HB 1700 (2012).

These provisions have an effective date of Jan. 1, 2014.

SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS - SECTION 589.407

This act requires offenders to provide their aliases, maiden names, nicknames, pseudonyms, ethnic or tribal names, any alias birth dates, location information if the individual is homeless, the name and address of any place where the individual serves as a volunteer or unpaid intern, the general areas in which the person works or travels for work if the person's place of employment is not fixed, the status of the person's parole, probation, or supervised release, passport and immigration numbers, and a physical description.

This act provides that a person commits the offense of failure to register if such person refuses to complete and sign a sex offender registration form.

This act requires the Highway Patrol to maintain registration information in digitized form. In addition, the Highway Patrol must immediately notify all jurisdictions in which an offender is required to register when an offender's information is updated.

This act establishes procedures for checking the accuracy of information on the sex offender registry and making updates.

These provisions are similar to HCS/HB 1700 (2012).

These provisions have an effective date of Jan. 1, 2014.

LAW ENFORCEMENT SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY REQUIREMENTS - SECTION 589.410

This act requires the chief law enforcement officer, within three business days, to enter registration and classification information into MULES rather than the Highway Patrol. The Highway Patrol is tasked under this act with checking the accuracy of the information entered into MULES. If any corrections are made, the Highway Patrol must notify the registering law enforcement officer within three business days of making the changes. The law enforcement officer must then update the local law enforcement registry and website within three business days of receiving the corrections.

These provisions are similar to HCS/HB 1700 (2012).

These provisions have an effective date of Jan. 1, 2014.

SEX OFFENDER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS - SECTION 589.414

Under current law, registered offenders must inform the local law enforcement agency of changes to certain information within three business days. This act requires such offenders to report changes within five business days. This act also adds new categories of information that the offender must update. This act requires the chief law enforcement officer where the offender resides to enter the changes into MULES and notify the Highway Patrol within three business days of receiving notice of the change.

This act modifies provisions regarding when certain offenders must report.

The registering law enforcement official must take a photograph of the offender each year in the month of the offender's birth.

These provisions are similar to HCS/HB 1700 (2012).

These provisions have an effective date of Jan. 1, 2014.

PETITION FOR REMOVAL FROM THE REGISTRY - SECTIONS 589.416 to 589.418

This act allows any person on the sexual offender registry to file a petition in the division of the circuit court in the county or city not within a county in which the offense requiring registration was adjudicated, or if such offense was adjudicated outside the state of Missouri, in the division of the circuit court in which the person resides, to have his or her name and information removed from the sexual offender registry so long as all applicable time requirements for all such offenses have elapsed.

The petition must be dismissed, without prejudice, if the petitioner has not been a resident of this state for at least five years immediately prior to the filing of the petition.

A petitioner who is classified as a Tier III offender must wait at least twenty-five years after first registering, a petitioner classified as a Tier II offender must wait at least ten years, and unclassified and Tier I offenders must wait at least five years.

This act details the information that must be included with the petition, including a successfully completed sex offender risk assessment report completed by a mental health professional on the sex offender mental health providers list approved by the department of mental health and completed within the six months immediately preceding the date of the filing of the petition. This act also requires the petitioner to file certain documents prior to the hearing date.

The court must deny the petition for removal if the court finds that the petitioner is a high risk to reoffend.

The petition must name as respondents the Highway Patrol, the prosecuting attorney where the petition is filed, and the chief law enforcement official where the petitioner resides.

This act provides factors that may result in denial of the petition. If the petition is denied, another petition may be filed no sooner than two years after the date of such denial unless such denial is based on a subsequent conviction of a sex offense or failure to register, in which case no successive petition shall be filed. If the petition is denied solely because the petitioner has pending charges and those charges are dismissed or the petitioner is acquitted, the petitioner may file a new petition any time after the dismissal or acquittal.

This act provides procedures for an unclassified offender to file a joint petition for removal or classification.

These provisions have an effective date of Jan. 1, 2014.

CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM FOR SEX OFFENDERS - SECTIONS 589.440 to 589.456

This act provides a system of classification for sex offenders. Any person who was registered on December 31, 2013, as a sex offender shall remain an unclassified offender unless the offender chooses to file a petition with the court for classification.

Any person who registers on or after January 1, 2014, as a sex offender is required to be classified and shall be automatically designated on a Sex Offender Classification Form by the registering law enforcement official, as an Offender Pending Classification. Any unclassified offender or person designated as an Offender Pending Classification may be classified by the court as a Tier I, II, or III offender.

Under the classification system, a tier III offender is any person whom the court determines to be a high risk to reoffend, a Tier II offender is any person whom the court determines to be a moderate risk to reoffend, and a tier I offender is any person whom the court determines to be a low risk to reoffend.

Any Offender Pending Classification who chooses to file a petition for classification must file the petition within six months from the date of his or her designation as an Offender Pending Classification. The offender must include with the petition a sex offender risk assessment report completed by a mental health provider approved by the department of mental health. If the Offender Pending Classification fails to file a petition for classification along with a sex offender risk assessment report within the six-month time limit or fails to deliver a copy of the petition for classification and sex offender risk assessment report to the department of mental health within the ten-day time limit, the department of mental health shall automatically classify the offender as a Tier III offender.

This act provides procedures for including the classification level on local and statewide registries, websites, and MULES.

This act requires the Highway Patrol to develop an Unclassified Offender Packet for the patrol's use in notifying all offenders registered as sex offenders on December 31, 2013, of recent changes in the sex offender registration laws, their new status as unclassified offenders, the possibility that they may have new reporting requirements, and their right to be classified by the court as a Tier I, II, or III offender.

Whenever an offender registers as a sex offender the registering law enforcement official shall designate the offender as an Offender Pending Classification on the Sex Offender Classification Form and give a copy of the Sex Offender Classification Form and the Offender Pending Classification Packet to the offender.

Any unclassified offender or any offender designated as an Offender Pending Classification may file a petition to be classified by the court as a Tier I, II, or III offender in the division of the circuit court in which the offense requiring registration was adjudicated, or if such offense was adjudicated outside the state of Missouri, in the division of the circuit court in which such person resides.

This act specifies when a petition for classification must be dismissed with or without prejudice.

The petitioner must name the Highway Patrol, the prosecuting attorney where the petition is filed, and the chief law enforcement official in the county where the petitioner resides as respondents.

If the petition for classification is not dismissed, the court must hold a hearing on the petition within 30 days of the filing of the petition and shall hear evidence offered by the petitioner or the prosecutor concerning the level at which the petitioner should be classified.

Any offender classified as a Tier III or II offender may file a petition to be reclassified by the court in which the offense requiring registration was adjudicated, or if such offense was adjudicated outside the state of Missouri, in the court where such person resides.

This act specifies the information that must be included with the petition.

The petitioner must name the Highway Patrol, the prosecuting attorney where the petition is filed, and the chief law enforcement official in the county where the petitioner resides as respondents.

If the petition for classification is not dismissed, the court must hold a hearing on the petition within 30 days of the filing of the petition and shall hear evidence offered by the petitioner or the prosecutor concerning whether the petitioner should be reclassified to a lower tier level.

The court must maintain the tier III classification level if the court finds that the petitioner is still a high risk to reoffend. The court must maintain the tier II classification if the court finds that the petitioner is still a moderate risk to reoffend. The court must reclassify a Tier III offender as a Tier II or I offender if the court finds that the petitioner is now a moderate or low risk to reoffend. The court must reclassify a tier II offender as a tier I offender if the court finds that the petitioner is now a low risk to reoffend.

This act requires the Highway Patrol to develop a Sex Offender Classification Form to be used by the patrol, the department of mental health, and the courts to classify registered sex offenders or to be used by registering law enforcement officials to designate an offender as an Offender Pending Classification. The Highway Patrol must, prior to January 1, 2014, provide the Sex Offender Classification Forms to the department of mental health, all registering law enforcement officials, and all circuit courts in this state.

In addition, the Highway Patrol must, prior to January 1, 2014, develop a Tier III Offender's Packet to be used by the department of mental health when it automatically classifies an offender as a Tier III offender. The Highway Patrol must, prior to January 1, 2014, develop an Offender Pending Classification Packet to be used by all registering law enforcement officials.

This act requires the Department of Mental Health to, prior to January 1, 2014, determine the maximum fee for sex offender risk assessments which may be charged by a mental health professional who is included on the sexual offender mental health providers list, develop an approved list of mental health professionals, determine the qualifications necessary for a mental health professional to be included on the sex offender mental health providers list, evaluate existing sex offender risk assessment tools and approve one or more of such tools for use by the mental health providers in conducting the assessments and completing a sex offender risk assessment report, determine the necessary requirements for a successfully completed sex offender risk assessment report, publish on its website and on the sex offender website the address which the department has designated to receive petitions for classification or reclassification and risk assessment reports sent to it by sex offenders, develop and implement a filing system to file and track petitions for classification and their accompanying sex offender risk assessment reports in order to determine whether the petitions were filed within the six-month time limit and whether the petition and sex offender risk assessment reports were delivered to the department within the ten day time limit, accept and file for tracking and review purposes all petitions for classification, petitions for reclassification, petitions for removal, and sex offender risk assessment reports delivered to the department by offenders, review, on an annual basis, all sex offender risk assessment reports it receives to determine if the mental health providers are successfully completing the sex offender risk assessment reports and if not, the department shall remove those mental health professionals from the approved sexual offender mental health providers list.

Beginning January 1, 2015, and annually thereafter, the department must review the usefulness and accuracy of the approved sex offender risk assessment tools and may, during any such review, change the tools that are approved for use.

These provisions have an effective date of Jan. 1, 2014.

MEGHAN LUECKE