Bill > HB1781

This bill modifies the procedure for filling a vacancy in the Missouri General Assembly by changing how and when the governor must issue a writ of election when a legislative seat becomes empty. Specifically, the bill updates the existing law to require the governor to issue a writ of election within seven days if the vacancy occurs forty-six weeks or more before the end of the legislator's term, with the election to be held no later than the eighteenth Tuesday after the writ is issued. If the vacancy occurs less than forty-six weeks before the term's end, the governor has discretion about whether to issue an election writ. The bill also makes a minor linguistic change by adding "or she" after "he" to make the language gender-neutral. These modifications provide clearer guidelines for filling legislative vacancies and give the governor some flexibility in timing elections based on how close the vacancy is to the end of the term.

https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB1781&year=2026&code=R