Missouri Supreme Court strikes down 2022 vote on KC police funding, citing faulty fiscal note

By JIM SALTER
Associated Press

The Missouri Supreme Court has taken the unusual step of striking down a 2022 voter-approved constitutional amendment that required Kansas City to spend a larger percentage of its money on the police department, and ordered that the issue go back before voters in November. Democratic Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas filed suit in 2023, alleging that voters were misled. The lawsuit stated that Kansas City leaders had informed state officials prior to the 2022 election that the ballot measure would cost the city nearly $39 million and require cuts in other services. But the measure placed before voters stated that “local governmental entities estimate no additional costs or savings related to this proposal.”