The Department of Corrections supervises all felons and targeted misdemeanants sentenced by the courts to prison or probation. By Missouri law, a person must be 17 years of age or certified as an adult by the courts. A prison sentence must be at least one year or greater in length. Probation terms, as determined by the courts, range from six months to five years. The Division of Adult Institutions provides the custody and care for offenders sentenced to prison. The Division of the Board of Probation and Parole supervises offenders sentenced to probation or released from prison on parole.

Division of Adult Institutions

Division of Adult Institutions is responsible for the supervision and management of 21 correctional centers and the custody and care of felony offenders sentenced to prison by the courts.

Division of Human Services

Division of Human Services provides specialized activities for the department’s religious affairs, volunteer and intern services, employee health, personnel, recruitment and employee development and training. This division also oversees the department’s budget, planning, research, fiscal management and general services operations.

Division of Offender Rehabilitative Services

Division of Offender Rehabilitative Services is responsible for the development and implementation of specialized services to offenders such as a medical and mental health care, academic and vocational education programs, substance abuse and sex offender treatment, and other programming as mandated by statute or determined by the Director.

Division of the Board of Probation and Parole

Division of the Board of Probation and Parole is responsible for all activities related to parole release and the supervision of offenders on probation, parole and in community corrections programs. Probation and Parole also conducts pre-sentence and parole investigations and oversees the operation for two community release centers.

The attorney general’s office was created in 1806 when Missouri was part of the Louisiana Territory. Missouri’s first constitution (1820) provided for an appointed attorney general. Since the 1865 constitution, the attorney general has been elected.

The attorney general is the attorney for the state. He represents the legal interests of Missouri and its people as a group, but cannot represent individual citizens in private legal actions.

As the state’s chief legal officer, the attorney general must prosecute or defend all appeals to which the state is a party, including every felony criminal case which is appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court and courts of appeal. He also is required to institute, in the name and on behalf of the state, all civil suits and other proceedings that are necessary to protect the state’s rights, interests or claims. He also may appear, interplead, answer or defend any proceedings in which the state’s interests are involved, or appear on behalf of the state in declaratory judgment proceedings when the constitutionality of a statute is challenged.

The attorney general renders official opinions to the General Assembly, the governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, the heads of the various state departments and the circuit or prosecuting attorneys on questions of law relating to their duties.

The attorney general may institute quo warranto proceedings to oust any corporation from doing business in Missouri if it has abused its franchise or has violated the state’s laws. He also may institute quo warranto proceedings against any person unlawfully holding any office or move to oust any public official for misfeasance, nonfeasance, or malfeasance in office.

He is a member of the Board of Fund Commissioners, Board of Public Buildings, the Governor’s Committee on Interstate Cooperation, the Missouri Highway Reciprocity Commission and the Missouri Housing Development Commission. He serves as chairman of the Governor’s Crime Commission.

In order to fulfill these and other responsibilities, the attorney general has organized his office into eight divisions: Litigation, Consumer Protection, Governmental Affairs, Environmental Protection, Criminal Appeals, Governmental and Financial Entities, Labor, and Public Safety.

The state auditor’s office determines if tax dollars are spent efficiently, economically and legally, and how well public funds are protected from potential fraud or abuse. The audits are categorized into five types: state government, performance, petition, county and special county audits. State government audits cover state agencies, boards and commissions, statewide elected officials, the legislature, the state’s financial statements and federal awards expended by the state. Performance audits analyze if various state programs or agencies achieve desired results and are run in the most efficient and cost-effective manner.

The state auditor also reviews the state’s municipal and circuit courts, 90 of the state’s 114 counties, and can be petitioned by citizens to audit local political subdivisions. All audits are conducted in an impartial, nonpartisan manner and according to government auditing standards issued by the United States General Accounting Office. In addition to the primary auditing duties, the state auditor registers all general obligation bonds and ensures tax rates levied by political subdivisions comply with state law.

The chief executive officer of the state of Missouri must be at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen for 15 years or longer and a resident of Missouri for at least 10 years before being elected governor.

The governor is elected to a four-year term during the same year as a presidential election and may seek re-election to a second four-year term. No person may hold the office for more than two terms.

The governor appoints the members of all boards and commissions, the heads of all departments in state government and all vacancies in public offices unless otherwise provided by law. The board members of Missouri’s state universities and colleges are appointed by the governor. The governor also selects the members of the Supreme and Appellate Courts of Missouri from names submitted by the State Judicial Commissions in addition to numerous other appointments.

The governor addresses the General Assembly on the state of government and recommends changes or other actions to be taken. A budget is submitted by the governor to the General Assembly within 30 days after the assembly convenes. The budget contains the governor’s estimates of available state revenues and an itemized plan for proposed expenditures.

All bills passed by both houses of the legislature, except those referred to a vote of the people, are submitted to the governor for his consideration. The governor may either approve a bill, making it law, or return it to the legislature with his objections.

The governor performs many other duties assigned by constitution, statute or custom. The governor also has the power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons, but this does not include the power to parole.

In addition to his other duties, the governor is a member of a number of boards and commissions, such as the Board of Public Buildings and State Board of Fund Commissioners.

Moreover, the governor is commander-in-chief of the state’s militia, the Missouri National Guard.

Museums in Missouri

Find everything from American Indian history to interpretations of French Colonial settlements, President Harry S. Truman to outlaw Jesse James, a museum dedicated to dogs and another dedicated to the history of psychiatric treatment. Find a museum near you today.

State Archives

The Missouri State Archives is the official repository for state records of permanent and historical value. The State Archives regularly schedules events and exhibits that are open to the public.

More than 6.8 million records can be accessed online through Missouri Digital Heritage, including the collections of the Missouri State Archives, the Missouri State Library and more than 50 institutions from across the state.

Missouri Supreme Court Library

Located on the second floor of the Supreme Court Building, the two-story high Supreme Court Library is a select government depository that offers reference services for members of the bench and the general assembly, and is open for use by lawyers and the public during regular business hours.

Missouri State Library

The Missouri State Library provides direct library and information service in support of the Executive and Legislative branches of Missouri State government, library service to blind and physically challenged residents of Missouri, and promotes the development and improvement of library services throughout the state. Its services are available to State employees.

The Wolfner Talking Book and Braille Library is a free library service to anyone in the State of Missouri who is unable to use standard print materials due to a visual or physical disability.