MO Opinion No. 69-2019 April 12, 2019

Did the Missouri AG approve the form of the Shetova Hayes initiative petition to amend Chapter 558 of the Revised Statutes?

Short answer: Attorney General Eric Schmitt approved the form of the Shetova Hayes initiative petition (2020-056), which proposed to amend Chapter 558 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri (criminal sentencing). § 116.332 leaves final form authority with the Secretary of State; AG review covers form only, not substance.

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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.

Disclaimer: This is an official Missouri Attorney General opinion. AG opinions are persuasive authority but not binding precedent. This summary is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Consult a licensed Missouri attorney for advice on your specific situation.

About this page: The plain-English summary, reader guidance, and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official AG opinion. The original opinion (linked on this page as a PDF) is the authoritative source for any reliance.

View original AG opinion (PDF)

Plain-English summary

Attorney General Eric Schmitt approved the form of the Shetova Hayes initiative petition (2020-056), which proposed to amend Chapter 558 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri. Chapter 558 covers Missouri's general sentencing rules: terms of imprisonment, conditional release, fines, and the like. Form-approval lets the petition proceed to ballot-summary and fiscal-note review.

The downstream fiscal note summary for this petition was reviewed in Opinion No. 82-2019, where the State Auditor projected "no additional costs, and possible savings of an unknown amount" for state entities and "no costs or savings" for local entities, consistent with sentencing-reform petitions that may reduce prison populations.

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

What is Chapter 558?

Missouri's general sentencing chapter. It defines felony classes, prison terms, fines, conditional release, and related provisions. Most sentencing-reform petitions target Chapter 558.

Does form-approval mean the petition's policy is sound?

No. The AG's review is procedural. Whether the proposed sentencing changes would actually reduce incarceration, lower costs, or improve outcomes is a substantive policy question that the AG does not address.

Why are ballot-summary review and form review separate steps?

Form review looks at the petition itself; ballot-summary review looks at the Secretary of State's summary description of the petition. They are sequential reviews of different documents and can produce different outcomes.

Did this petition reach the ballot?

The opinion does not say. Confirmation requires checking Secretary of State records.

Who is Shetova Hayes?

A 2019 initiative proponent. The opinion does not provide further biographical detail.

Background and statutory framework

Chapter 116 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri governs initiative and referendum procedure. § 116.332 sets out the AG's form-review process. The substantive provisions the petition would amend are at Chapter 558, RSMo (sentencing).

Citations

§ 116.332, RSMo (AG form review of initiative petitions)
Chapter 558, Revised Statutes of Missouri (general sentencing provisions)
Initiative Petition 2020-056 (Hayes, Chapter 558)

Source

Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/69-2019.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
JEFFERSON CITY, P.O. Box 899

April 12, 2019
OPINION LETTER NO. 69-2019

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 for our review under § 116.332, RSMo, of the sufficiency as to form of an initiative petition submitted by Shetova Hayes (2020-056).

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

OP-2019-0070

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