Bill in Missouri Senate aims to strengthen domestic violence accountability measures

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A bill filed in the Missouri legislature could change how domestic violence cases are prosecuted, giving law enforcement and prosecutors more tools to hold offenders accountable before violence turns deadly.

Senate Bill 928, introduced by Senator Patty Lewis, a Democrat from Kansas City, modifies accountability measures related to domestic violence.

The bill deals specifically with bodily harm and stalking cases.

The bill represents a shift toward earlier intervention in domestic violence situations.

"We can lay out police report, after police report, after police report and you can see the escalation if an offender is not held accountable for their behavior," Ilene Shehan said.

Chris Morrison

Shehan, chief operating officer at Hope House, believes the legislation addresses a critical gap in current law enforcement response to domestic violence incidents.

"The stalking laws change for the better if we will hold the offender accountable sooner rather than later," Shehan said. "We don't have to wait for it to be homicide before we do something."

The bill would change assault and domestic violence language.

• The bill removes the old legal terms "serious physical injury" and "physical injury" and replaces them with three clearer categories:
  
  • Great bodily harm: injuries that create a high chance of death or cause serious, permanent, or long-lasting loss or impairment.
    
    • Substantial bodily harm: injuries that cause a temporary, but significant disfigurement, or temporary. but significant loss of function, or a fracture.
    • Bodily harm: physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition.
      

• Stalking (first and second-degree)

  • First-degree stalking is redefined as a crime when a person, through repeated conduct aimed at someone (including through "technological abuse"), knowingly behave in a way that would make a reasonable person:
    
    • Fear death or serious injury;
    • Fear a crime will be committed against their family, household, or dating partner;
    • Fear a crime will be committed against their property; or
    • Feel harassed, terrified, or intimidated.
  • Second-degree stalking is redefined similarly, but covers conduct that would cause a reasonable person to feel harassed, terrified, or intimidated (a lower threshold than first-degree).
  • The bill explicitly includes "technological abuse" (use of tech to harass or threaten) as a way stalking can occur.

Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson provided written testimony supporting the bill, highlighting a key addition that creates new enforcement options.

Chris Morrison

"It creates a new offense, a Class A misdemeanor for a violation of a no contact order," said Johnson."And this is important because once a judge issues a no-contact order, and that order is violated, there are not a lot of options as it pertains to recourse once that occurs."

The legislation comes as domestic violence advocates across the region work to strengthen protective measures.

In Kansas, Wesal Nourein, program director for Friends of Yates, is working on similar efforts through their high-risk team, which collaborates with multiple agencies to find solutions.

Chris Morrison

"Where is that lack coming from," Nourein said. "Is it from the victim, is it the abuser, is it the community, is it the lawmaker and how do we fix that? I feel like that's one of the biggest problems I feel like we're facing."

Nourein emphasized the need for clear consequences when patterns of abuse emerge.

"If you have that pattern, we should have something in place," Nourein said. "What is that stop point where we're not giving you that mercy anymore, you're not released anymore, you will be incarcerated."

Chris Morrison

Johnson acknowledged that while more comprehensive reforms are needed, Senate Bill 928 represents meaningful progress in addressing domestic violence.

"As domestic violence continues to run rampant in our communities, having additional tools, having increased measures to be able to hold more wrongdoers accountable means the world to us," Johnson said.

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