JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri’s takeover of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department began Wednesday as Gov. Mike Kehoe
signed off on a wide-ranging crime plan in the capital city. The Republican governor’s signature will usher in a new era of state control for the city police department — over a decade after Missouri voters chose to place the city police under local control. The transition to state control — opposed by local leaders such as Mayor Tishaura O. Jones — goes into immediate effect.
Gov. Mike Kehoe signs crime legislation on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, that includes language giving the state control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The law,
House Bill 495 , requires the Republican governor to appoint a transition director to oversee the state takeover’s implementation. That period will need to end by July 1, 2026, the law says.
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Kehoe, who made the takeover a priority, didn’t name a transition director Wednesday. He said the legislation won’t guarantee lower crime in the city of St. Louis. “You can’t legislate lower crime,” Kehoe told reporters. “But what you can do is give law enforcement the tools that it takes.” He noted a requirement in the bill forcing the city to boost spending on the police department. “We believe that a citizens board — not a political board — makes a big difference,” Kehoe said. The legislation says the new Board of Police Commissioners will take over the department during the implementation period. At that point, the law requires the department’s assets and debts to be transferred to the new board. The legislation calls for a six-member board. The mayor, who had been in charge of appointing the police chief, will hold one seat while five gubernatorial appointees will make up the rest of the board. The five gubernatorial appointees will require Senate confirmation. One of the gubernatorial appointees will be a nonvoting member of the board and could reside in St. Louis County if he or she owns and pays taxes on land in the city. The other four gubernatorial appointees will have had to reside in the city for at least two years. Kehoe has 90 days to appoint the four citizen commissioners. The legislation requires the state to assume all “contractual obligations and other lawful obligations of the municipal police department.”
