Testimony in Opposition of SB 888 –  Increase Prosecutor Involvement in Youth Certification

Date:   March 10, 2026

To:     Chairman Mayhew and Members, Corrections and Public Institutions Committee

From:   Gwen Smith-Moore, Criminal Justice Policy Manager, Empower Missouri

RE:      Oppose SB 888

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 its inception, Empower Missouri has prioritized addressing the criminal justice system and its impacts. Through research, education and policy advocacy, Empower Missouri works to ensure that Missouri’s criminal justice policies reflect values of equity, public safety, and respect for human life. 

SB 888 just received an alarming new fiscal note, which anticipates that the bill’s impacts would increase our state’s prison population to such an extent that it would require a new prison to be built, a project that would cost taxpayers at least $825,000,000.

The provisions in this bill include some of the recommendations for the Missouri Sentencing Advisory Committee (MOSAC), which we have expressed concern about from the beginning of this session. While we understand the desire for law enforcement, victims, and communities to have a better understanding of how long a person will be incarcerated, these recommendations must be incorporated into current law in a way that has a neutral impact on the budget, perhaps by further decreasing the recommended sentences for nonviolent offenders, many of whom suffer from addiction or mental health issues and who already would be better served by community-based treatment programs rather than prisons. There is simply no evidence that longer prison sentences reduce crime in communities.

DOC is already struggling to maintain appropriate staffing levels in its existing facilities. DOC currently has 960 vacancies on staff. Because of extreme staffing shortages, DOC spent $54,000,000 last year in overtime alone. There is no evidence to suggest that DOC could staff a new prison facility appropriately, and even if they could, it would come at an even higher cost due to the extreme use of overtime pay in these facilities. 

At a time when Missouri is operating in a budget-constrained environment, and legislators are being asked to slash millions of dollars from programs serving children, seniors, and disabled individuals, we sincerely hope that you would not approve a proposal that would force further cuts to those programs so that Missouri can allocate money for an additional prison instead. 

There are several specific portions of the bill that we would like to call attention to:

1. The elimination of conditional release for Class A and B felonies and sexual offenses will lead to further increases in the prison population, potentially even beyond what is reflected in the current fiscal note. Conditional release was created as a fail-safe to ensure that parole boards release people from prison for at least some period of community supervision. If conditional release is no longer mandated for more serious offenses, there is no reason to think everyone currently being held until their conditional release date would be paroled instead. These proposed changes to the sentencing structure rely heavily on the parole board to function fairly and effectively, without any reforms made in response to long-standing concerns about the parole process. 
2. The sentencing enhancement for Class E third or subsequent offenses (50% of the sentence to be served before parole eligibility) will have an outsized impact on individuals struggling with addiction and mental health issues. It is very typical for someone to receive multiple lower-level charges in a single incident, such as being charged with possession of multiple drugs, each carrying a separate charge. Substance abuse can be more effectively and affordably treated in the community.
3. The changes proposed to juvenile justice processes, particularly increased prosecutor involvement in certifications, will almost certainly result in more youth being certified as adults. Most children naturally grow out of delinquent behavior, but incarceration can be counterproductive to this process. This impact is even greater for those who have been certified as adults: children in adult correctional facilities are 34 percent more likely to recidivate than those within the juvenile system. 

This bill needs more work. We urge you to take your time and work with the necessary parties to renegotiate the provisions of this bill so that taxpayers aren’t saddled with the cost of a new prison.