Requires law enforcement agencies to collect information regarding the immigration status of criminal offenders
Summary
SB 583 would amend Missouri’s crime reporting law to require law enforcement agencies to submit additional information to the Department of Public Safety about the immigration status of criminal offenders. The bill directs agencies to indicate whether an offender is a U.S. citizen, a lawfully present immigrant, or whether the agency does not have information showing the person is a citizen or lawfully present immigrant. This new reporting requirement would be added to the existing statewide crime incident and arrest reporting system that the department maintains and uses to compile and publish crime statistics.
The bill also preserves the department’s existing responsibilities to collect, analyze, and report crime data, provide reporting standards and training, maintain privacy and security, and adopt rules to implement the statute. In addition, it creates a compliance consequence: any law enforcement agency that violates the section after December 31, 2021, may become ineligible for state or federal funds otherwise available for law enforcement, safety, or criminal justice purposes.
Impact
SB 583 would change section 43.505, RSMo, by expanding the data that Missouri law enforcement agencies must report to the Department of Public Safety. The practical effect would be to add immigration-status tracking to the state’s uniform crime reporting system and to make compliance with that reporting requirement tied to eligibility for certain public funding. The bill would affect local police departments, sheriffs’ offices, and other law enforcement agencies that submit crime incident and arrest reports, as well as the Department of Public Safety, which would need to collect and manage the new data element.
Sentiment
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or formal support/opposition in the available materials. Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears to be framed as a public-safety and data-collection bill, with an emphasis on statewide reporting consistency. The absence of recorded legislative discussion makes the overall sentiment difficult to gauge beyond the fact that the proposal was introduced but no subsequent action is shown in the provided record.
Contention
The main point of contention is likely the requirement that law enforcement agencies collect and report immigration-status information about criminal offenders. Supporters would likely view the provision as a way to improve crime data and identify offenders’ immigration status for public-safety purposes, while opponents may object that it could burden local agencies, raise privacy or civil-liberties concerns, and discourage cooperation with law enforcement in immigrant communities. The funding penalty for noncompliance is another likely flashpoint, because it gives the state leverage over local agencies by threatening eligibility for law enforcement and criminal-justice funds.