Missouri Supreme Court Voids 2022 Vote on Kansas City Police Funding, Orders New Election for November

Members of the Missouri Supreme Court seated. [From left to right: Chief Justice Mary R. Russell, Judge W. Brent Powell, Judge Zel M. Fischer, Judge Robin Ransom, Judge Paul C. Wilson, Judge Kelly C. Broniec, Judge Ginger K Gooch.) KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – Missouri Supreme Court made an unprecedented decision and struck down the 2022 ballot measure requiring Kansas City to allocate 25% of general funding to policing. The measure will now be on the upcoming ballot in November. In 2022, Missouri voters elected to pass the ballot measure that would force an increase in police funding. Before the issue made its way onto the ballots, Mayor Quinton Lucas sued the state, claiming that the law was unconstitutional and would cut into the city’s other budgets. The Missouri Constitution prohibits the state from requiring a city to increase an activity or service beyond what is mandated by law. Missouri constitution Article X reads:& “A new activity or service or an increase in the level of any activity or service beyond that required by existing law shall not be required by the general assembly or any state agency of counties or other political subdivisions, unless a state appropriation is made and...