Did the Missouri AG approve the form of James Owen's 2019 Chapter 393 initiative petition (version 3, file 2020-115)?
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This page answers the general question as of 2019. Ezel answers yours: what it means for your facts, under current Missouri law, with citations.
Plain-English summary
James Owen filed a family of parallel initiative petitions in 2019 (file numbers 2020-113 through 2020-116) to amend Chapter 393 RSMo, the chapter that regulates gas, electric, water, and sewer utilities. Petition 2020-115 is version 3 of that family.
Under § 116.332 RSMo, the Secretary of State sends each filed petition to the AG for a "sufficiency as to form" review. AG Schmitt's letter here approves the form of version 3. The letter is explicit that this is a procedural check only: it does not determine whether the petition is sufficient as to substance, it does not endorse the petition or its proponents' objectives, and it does not bind the Secretary of State, who keeps "final authority to approve or reject" under the same § 116.332.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 2019. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
Common questions
Q: What does "approved as to form" actually mean here?
A: It means the petition met the structural and drafting requirements the AG checks under § 116.332 RSMo. The letter says plainly that this is not a judgment on the substance of the proposal, and not an endorsement. It is a procedural gate, not a thumbs-up on the policy.
Q: Does the AG's approval put this petition on the ballot?
A: No. The opinion stresses that the Secretary of State retains "final authority to approve or reject" the petition. Even after form approval, the petition still had to clear the rest of the Chapter 116 pipeline and gather enough valid signatures.
Q: What does Chapter 393 RSMo cover?
A: Chapter 393 is the chapter regulating gas, electric, water, and sewer utilities in Missouri, including utility rates and service obligations. The opinion itself does not describe what version 3 of the Owen petition would change within that chapter; it reviews form only.
Q: Who was the Secretary of State at the time?
A: John R. Ashcroft, who had requested the AG's form review.
Background and statutory framework
Chapter 116 RSMo lays out the initiative-petition pipeline. This opinion is the form-review step: under § 116.332 RSMo the Secretary of State refers each filed petition to the AG, who reviews it for sufficiency as to form and returns an approval or rejection while the Secretary of State keeps final authority over the petition. Owen filed four parallel versions in this family (2020-113 through 2020-116); this letter covers version 3.
Citations and references
Statutes: § 116.332 RSMo (the operative provision for AG form review, the only statute the opinion cites); Chapter 393 RSMo (the chapter the petition would amend, named in the letter).
Sister Owen form-review opinions in this family: 191-2019 (version 1, 2020-113), 192-2019 (version 2, 2020-114), 194-2019 (version 4, 2020-116, which would amend Chapters 393 and 386).
Source
- Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
- Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/193-2019.pdf?sfvrsn=2
Original opinion text
Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain, the linked PDF is authoritative.
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
ERIC SCHMITT
September 13, 2019
OPINION LETTER NO. 193-2019
The Honorable John R. Ashcroft
Missouri Secretary of State
James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center
600 West Main Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Dear Secretary Ashcroft:
This opinion letter responds to your request dated September 6, 2019, for our review under § 116.332, RSMo, of the sufficiency as to form of an initiative petition to amend Chapter 393, Revised Statutes of Missouri, version 3 (2020-115) submitted by James Owen.
We approve the petition as to form, but § 116.332 gives the Secretary of State final authority to approve or reject the petition. Therefore, our approval of the form of the petition does not preclude you from rejecting the petition.
Because our review of the petition is simply for the purpose of determining sufficiency as to form, the fact that we do not reject the petition is not to be construed as a determination that the petition is sufficient as to substance. Likewise, because our review is mandated by statute, no action that we take with respect to such review should be construed as an endorsement of the petition or of the objectives of its proponents, or the expression of any view respecting the adequacy or inadequacy of the petition generally.
Very truly yours,
ERIC S. SCHMITT
Attorney General
Supreme Court Building
207 W. High Street
P.O. Box 899
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Phone: (573) 751-3321
Fax: (573) 751-0774
www.ago.mo.gov
OP-2019-0222
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