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MissouriHB1452025 1st Extraordinary SessionHouseWALLET

Modifies provisions of the sunshine law

Sponsored By: Bill Falkner (Republican)

Signed by Governor

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

10 provisions identified: 6 benefits, 1 costs, 3 mixed.

Court officers can demand online removal

After a written privacy request, people, businesses, and associations must remove covered officers’ personal information online within five business days. They must keep it off websites they control and cannot share it through other means. Soliciting, selling, or trading the information is barred when intended to unlawfully tamper with an officer or pose an imminent, serious threat. The threat rule also protects immediate family: a spouse, child, parent, or unmarried partner living in the same home. Children include adopted and foster children. Officers can seek a court order enforcing these rights or declaring them. If relief is granted, the responsible party must pay the officer’s court costs and reasonable attorney fees.

Court officers gain government record privacy

The Judicial Privacy Act covers specified current, former, and retired federal and Missouri judges, prosecutors, court staff, and juvenile officers. Protected details include home addresses, phone numbers, personal emails, financial account numbers, identification numbers, marital status, and minor children’s identities. Officers submit paper or electronic requests through the Missouri Supreme Court clerk or the appropriate court clerk or designee. Requests must identify the information to protect, including any secondary residence. Agencies must remove covered information from public content within five business days and stop publicly posting it. Covered information is exempt from public disclosure unless its release is requested in writing. The law excludes agencies created under section 43.020; statewide automated court-proceeding records remain governed by Missouri Supreme Court rules. Protection ends with the officer’s written consent or death.

Minors gain privacy in local records

The law exempts identifying information about people under 18 in records held by cities, towns, villages, and park boards. The exemption covers the identifying portions, not necessarily the whole record. Missouri’s Division of Labor Standards can still obtain the information to enforce child labor laws.

Park visitors gain reservation record privacy

The law protects identifying customer information for camping, lodging, and shelter reservations at county, municipal, and Missouri state parks. State historic sites are also covered. Visitors can request their records or authorize release. Their municipality and ZIP code of residence remain outside this privacy exemption.

Court officers can shield property records

Covered court officers can request shielding of eligible electronic deed records maintained in their county. Requests go through an authorized court clerk and must list the officer’s legal name or alias and each document number. A family member’s name is also required when that person is a party to the document. Recorders must shield the records within five business days and report missing document numbers within five business days. Shielded index fields include document numbers, property addresses, property descriptions, and recording dates; a shielding notice may accompany a grantor’s name. Later eligible records receive shielding within five business days when the officer presents the request at recording. Shielding ends only through a court order or the officer’s notarized affidavit. Parties to the document retain access, and others can obtain authorized access through a court order or notarized affidavit. Recorders are protected from damages for good-faith actions and releases made before shielding.

At-risk species locations can stay private

Government bodies can withhold records showing the known location of certain at-risk plants or animals. Covered classifications are endangered, threatened, critically imperiled, imperiled, or vulnerable. Withholding applies when disclosure could increase the species’ risk of peril.

Records requesters face payment deadlines

Records requests are treated as withdrawn after 90 days without full payment or a response to a clarification request. The window is 150 days when requested fees exceed $1,000. For the same or a substantially similar request within six months after expiration, agencies can add the earlier unpaid fees. Requests pending on August 28, 2025, are withdrawn if all fees remain unpaid by January 1, 2026. Withdrawal rules do not apply when a lawsuit about the records has been filed against the public body.

Foster placement records lose blanket exemption

The law removes the blanket public-records exemption for foster-home and kinship-placement records. This broadens potential public access but reduces that specific privacy protection for affected families. Other applicable disclosure exemptions still matter; removal does not make every placement record automatically public.

Public records fees and upfront payments

Public bodies can require payment before fulfilling a records request. Paper copies up to 9 by 14 inches cost $0.10 per page. Copying staff charges are limited to average clerical pay; research time can be charged at actual cost. Larger copies and other formats can include copying, required staff, programming, and media costs, with staff charges limited to average required-staff pay. Requesters can ask for estimates and seek reduced or waived fees when the public interest substantially outweighs their commercial interest. State receipts go to general revenue through the revenue director; local receipts go to the responsible fiscal officer. Charges within necessary service costs are excluded from the constitutional tax-and-fee restriction for services existing November 4, 1980, or later voter-approved services.

Utility billing privacy with business disclosures

The law protects identifiable customer usage and billing records held by municipally owned utilities and constitutionally covered political-subdivision utilities. Customers can request or authorize disclosure of their records. For commercial accounts, covered utilities must disclose the customer’s name, billing address, service location, and service dates. These rules change access to account information, not utility rates.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

  • Bill Falkner

    Republican • House

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 422 • No: 103

House vote • 5/12/2025

House Adopts - SS SCS as amended

Yes: 120 • No: 37

House vote • 5/12/2025

Reported Do Pass

Yes: 7 • No: 0

House vote • 5/12/2025

Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed

Yes: 107 • No: 50 • Other: 1

Senate vote • 5/8/2025

Third Read and Passed with Amendments - SA 1, SA 2 adopted

Yes: 30 • No: 1

House vote • 4/2/2025

Third Read and Passed

Yes: 138 • No: 15

House vote • 3/12/2025

Reported Do Pass

Yes: 10 • No: 0

House vote • 2/6/2025

HCS Reported Do Pass

Yes: 10 • No: 0

Actions Timeline

  1. Delivered to Secretary of State (G)

    7/14/2025House

  2. Approved by Governor (G)

    7/14/2025House

  3. Delivered to Governor

    5/30/2025House

  4. Signed by President Pro Tem

    5/30/2025Senate

  5. Signed by House Speaker

    5/29/2025House

  6. House Message

    5/12/2025House

  7. Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed - AYES: 107 NOES: 50 PRESENT: 1

    5/12/2025House

  8. House Adopts - SS SCS as amended AYES: 120 NOES: 37 PRESENT: 0

    5/12/2025House

  9. Taken Up

    5/12/2025House

  10. Reported Do Pass - AYES: 7 NOES: 0 PRESENT: 0

    5/12/2025House

  11. Voted Do Pass

    5/12/2025House

  12. Executive Session Completed

    5/12/2025House

  13. Referred: Fiscal Review

    5/8/2025House

  14. Reported to the House with... - SS as amended

    5/8/2025House

  15. Third Read and Passed with Amendments - SA 1, SA 2 adopted AYES: 30 NOES: 1 PRESENT: 0

    5/8/2025Senate

  16. SS Adopted

    5/8/2025Senate

  17. SS Offered

    5/8/2025Senate

  18. Taken Up for Third Reading

    5/8/2025Senate

  19. SCS Reported Do Pass

    5/1/2025Senate

  20. SCS Voted Do Pass

    4/29/2025Senate

  21. Executive Session Held

    4/29/2025Senate

  22. Public Hearing Held

    4/15/2025Senate

  23. Public Hearing Scheduled - Tuesday, April 15.2025, 10:30 a.m., Senate Lounge - 3rd Floor

    4/14/2025Senate

  24. Second read and referred: General Laws

    4/10/2025Senate

  25. Reported to the Senate and First Read

    4/3/2025Senate

Bill Text

  • Truly Agreed

    5/12/2025

    PDF

  • Perfected

    3/26/2025

    PDF

  • Committee Substitute

    2/6/2025

    PDFPDF

  • Senate Substitute

    2/6/2025

    PDF

  • Introduced

    1/8/2025

    PDF

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