MO HB373

Repeals detailed statutes defining individual judicial circuit boundaries and replaces them with a mechanism allowing the Missouri Supreme Court to alter circuit boundaries every 20 years beginning in 2020.

Requires the Supreme Court to submit circuit realignment plans to both houses of the General Assembly within the first 30 calendar days of regular legislative sessions, accompanied by analysis of judicial workload, clerical workload, litigant access, population, travel time, and historical county connections.

Circuit realignment plans become effective January 1 of the following year unless disapproved by concurrent resolution within 60 calendar days, with rejection requiring a majority vote of both houses and applying to the entire plan without amendment.

Prohibits any realignment plan from altering the total number of judicial circuits in existence as of December 31, 2019, with any plan that creates or reduces circuits rendered null and void.

Modernizes family court provisions in section 487.010 to allow any circuit to establish a family court by local court rule, while preserving existing family courts in specified circuits as of December 31, 2019.