Bill restoring voting rights to those on probation, parole passes Missouri House
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- House passes bill to restore voting rights for Missourians on supervision.
- Bill would remove prohibition keeping about 53,000 people off voter rolls.
- Supporters cite reduced recidivism and bipartisan backing for passage.
Jill Hanlin spent many years either incarcerated or on supervision after release, and consequently has spent time ineligible to cast a ballot in the state of Missouri.
The Blue Springs native dedicated her life to helping people in the reentry field. One barrier to reentry, Hanlin said, is the ineligibility of people on probation or parole to vote.
“The people that are on probation and parole, there are some people that are still trying to get their footing, but for the most part, everybody wants the same thing, to get their lives back on track and to be a member of the community and to integrate smoothly,” Hanlin said.
Missouri is one of 14 states where people can’t vote while on parole or probation, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Ten other states permanently disenfranchise people with criminal convictions unless given explicit approval from the government.
On Thursday, a bill passed in the House would join Missouri with the 23 states that automatically restore voting rights to people after being released from prison.
“There’s a lot of misinformation or misunderstanding about voting rights with a felony conviction period. A lot of people have a misunderstanding that they can never vote again, even after coming off of supervision,” said Gwen Smith-Moore, criminal justice policy manager for Empower Missouri, an antipoverty-focused nonprofit organization.
The prohibition currently keeps about 53,000 ineligible to vote in Missouri. Hanlin said the disenfranchisement is one of many barriers, in addition to things like jobs and housing people reintegrating to life on the outside face.
“It’s just another one of those barriers saying you’re not good enough,” she said.
Bill inspired by personal experience
Rep. Melanie Stinnett, a Springfield Republican, has introduced the bill every year since she was elected in 2022. It was inspired by an encounter she had on the campaign trail while knocking on doors.
“I ran into one door where a gentleman was very upset, yelled at me, slammed the door in my face and it was pretty unsettling because that’s pretty uncommon,” Stinnett said.
After continuing through the neighborhood, the man came back to apologize.
“As I got closer to him, I could see he was teary-eyed and he said, I’m so sorry I treated you that way. I shouldn’t have done that but I can’t vote and it really bothers me,” Stinnett said.
The average time someone stays under supervised release was 20.8 months in fiscal year 2024, according to the latest Missouri Department of Corrections offender profile. But the range someone can be sentenced to supervised release can go much longer, lasting up to lifetime parole for some serious offenses.
Smith-Moore said the bill does more than just restore rights to formerly-incarcerated people; it also has been observed to reduce recidivism.
“States where individuals retain their right to vote while on supervision actually have, on average, about 10% lower recidivism rates than states without voting restoration,” Smith-Moore said. “The more connected somebody can feel to their community, the less chance they have to reoffend.”
The bill was relatively uncontroversial and passed with 107 yes votes to only 37 no votes. It counted supporters from both conservative and progressive organizations, and from Republican and Democratic representatives.
“We have various individuals who have paid their debt to society, they have been reformed, they’ve went through the corrections process and they have been reformed and I do believe rights should be restored back on them because they have been productive citizens,” said Melissa Douglass, a Kansas City Democrat.
Similar bills have passed the House before, but have struggled in the Senate. But its passage early in the session this year gives supporters hope that it could finally reach the Governor’s desk.
“Last year we didn’t see a whole lot of momentum, so the fact that it’s got so much early momentum this year, we’re taking as a really good sign and crossing our fingers,” Smith-Moore said.
Kansas also bars people from voting while on parole or probation, but no legislation has passed either chamber to end its prohibition.
This story was originally published March 6, 2026 at 12:59 PM.
