Date: April 1, 2025
To: Representative Casteel, Chairman, and Members of the House Commerce Committee
From: Gwen Smith-Moore, Criminal Justice Policy Manager, Empower Missouri
Re: Support for HB 1505
As the largest and oldest anti-poverty non-profit in our state, Empower Missouri is committed to improving the quality of life for all Missouri residents through advocacy. Since our inception, Empower Missouri has focused on the criminal justice system and its impacts. Our Community Justice Coalition consists of community advocates and organizations from across the state who work with those who have been impacted by the criminal justice system. Many coalition members are formerly incarcerated or have currently incarcerated loved ones, and all are connected by a vision for a future without mass incarceration.
We are providing testimony today in support of HB 1505, which would create the Missouri Violent Crime Clearance Grant Program, wherein the Department of Public Safety would prioritize grant funding for jurisdictions with low clearance rates and a commitment to working with organizations and government entities to reduce violence crime. Decades of research show that harsh sentences are not an effective crime deterrent, and a more effective deterrent is the certainty that you will be caught. However, in 2022, 64% of violent crimes reported to police in Missouri were not solved. Focusing public dollars on improving crime clearance rates is one of the most impactful avenues Missouri can pursue to address public safety concerns, and the program proposed in HB 1505 is a compelling strategy for our state.
HB 1505 includes a number of other provisions, all of which affirm the humanity and protect the constitutional rights of Missourians who are incarcerated in jails and prisons. One of these provisions would end the use of restraints on children in juvenile court, except in extreme cases where safety is a legitimate concern. Currently, children in juvenile court can be shackled even if they are accused only of misdemeanor, non-violent or status offenses. By enacting this change, Missouri would join the 32 other states that have banned the use of restraints in juvenile court, including Florida, New Mexico, and South Carolina. The American Bar Association has issued a resolution recommending that all states end the practice of shackling youth. Under the United States Constitution, the use of visible restraints imposed on adult criminal defendants at trial and sentencing may only be employed “in the presence of a special need.” Children should be afforded the same protections as adult defendants, but in this instance they are not.
Other provisions included in HB 1505 include ensuring individuals incarcerated in Missouri DOC have access to their medical records upon request, and have the opportunity to appoint a personal representative to speak on their behalf regarding medical and other needs with the Department, as well as requiring State Highway Patrol independently investigate any deaths of individuals under age fifty in DOC custody. These provisions acknowledge the reality that the medical care system in Missouri prisons is in crisis, and there have been an unprecedented number of in-custody deaths in recent years.
Empower Missouri urges this committee to take action to pass HB 1505 into law. Thank you for your time and consideration of this matter.
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