Bill > HB956

This bill modifies Missouri state law regarding offender furloughs and funeral attendance, allowing the director of corrections to extend an offender's confinement limits for specific purposes like visiting ill relatives, attending funerals, obtaining medical services, contacting potential employers, and participating in rehabilitation programs. The bill specifically adds new provisions that guarantee an offender's right to attend a funeral of an immediate family member (defined as spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, grandchild, stepparent, stepchild, stepsibling, or adoptive relationship) if they are unable to obtain a furlough through the director. When attending such a funeral, the offender must be escorted by a correctional officer or Missouri state highway patrol member and must personally pay all associated costs, including escort expenses, prior to the funeral. The existing law's thirty-day annual furlough limit can be extended at the director's discretion for community release programs or emergency medical services. The bill also maintains a requirement that the director send copies of furlough orders to relevant judicial and law enforcement officials, with some exceptions for funeral and emergency medical furloughs.

https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB956&year=2025&code=R