Committee reviews technical changes to statutes after 'raise the age' law

Representative David Dolan introduced House Bill 736, a proposal to make technical amendments that replace references to 17 years of age with 18 where prior "raise the age" legislation left some cross-references inconsistent.

The sponsor said the bill is intended to preserve prior policy decisions rather than change them, and that portions touching the Division of Youth Services would be pulled into a later committee substitute for additional review.

Why it matters: After Missouri's multi-year "raise the age" reforms, bill sponsors and judicial staff said a handful of statutory cross-references still refer to the prior age thresholds. HB 736 aims to resolve those inconsistencies to avoid confusion in implementation.

Eric Jennings, testifying for the Judicial Conference of Missouri, told the committee the Conference had kept a running list of missed changes and supports cleaning them up. "There may be a few other items," he said, and the sponsor acknowledged some parts would be removed from the current draft to avoid policy changes and to limit the bill to purely technical corrections.

Committee members had no substantive objections in the hearing; the bill was described as a housekeeping measure and supporters said they would submit a committee substitute to narrow remaining language that might carry fiscal or policy consequences.