Changes to Missouri’s sex offender registry law could cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funding, reports the Columbia Missourian. According to the Department of Justice, Missouri could lose 10 percent of its federal funding under the Justice Assistance Grant Program if the General Assembly passes House Bill 301, which remove the names of juvenile sex offenders from the public website and allow qualifying offenders to have their names deleted from the registry.
Gov. Jay Nixon has vetoed the bill, saying that it poses a public safety risk because it doesn’t differentiate between violent and nonviolent offenders. House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, has said that he and his colleagues will attempt to override the governor’s veto when legislators reconvene in September. If that happens, the state law could violate the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, and the would stand to lose about $400,000.