FAQ

TERM LIMITS FOR LEGISLATORS

Prepared by House Research
Missouri House of Representatives

Since the admission of Missouri to the Union in 1821, members of the state House of Representatives have served two-year terms and members of the state Senate have served four-year terms, with half of the Senate being elected every two years. Until 1992 there was no limit on the number of terms that a person could be elected to the House or Senate.

In November of 1992, an amendment to the Missouri Constitution was approved to limit total service in the House to eight years and total service in the Senate to eight years, with total legislative service limited to sixteen years. Service prior to the effective date of the amendment is not counted in calculation of the limit. (Article III, Section 8, Missouri Constitution)

The amendment applied to all persons elected to the legislature after November 3, 1992. For most state legislators, this meant that service begun as the result of election in November of 1994 counted against their limit. There were, however, a few senators and representatives elected in special elections between November 1992 and November 1994. Until the adoption of an amendment to Section 8 in November 2002, there was no provision for partial terms; so, because they could not serve their full terms if elected in 2000, there were eight House members who could not run again for the House in 2000, even though they had served less than eight years. And a state senator who had been elected to fill out one year of a term could not run for the Senate in 1998, even though he had served only five years in the Senate.

The initial effect of the term limits amendment occurred in the 2002 election, when 73 House members and 12 Senate members were not eligible to run for re-election.

As of April 18, 2005, assuming continuous re-election, the number of members of the House who will not be eligible to run for re-election in a particular year are:

For the 2006 election, 11 members will not be eligible to run again for the House;

For the 2008 election, 30 members will not be eligible to run again for the House;

For the 2010 election, 83 members will not be eligible to run again for the House; and

For the 2012 election, 38 members will not be eligible to run again for the House.

These numbers will go down as members retire, resign, are defeated, and otherwise leave the House.

SENATE INFORMATION

On November 3, 1992, Missouri voters approved by a margin of 75 percent an amendment to the state's constitution (Article III, Section 8) limiting the years a legislator may serve in the General Assembly. Prior to this provision, Missouri had no legislative term limits.

As originally adopted, the amendment limited the service of individuals elected to the General Assembly to a maximum of eight years in the Missouri House of Representatives and eight years in the Missouri Senate. The amendment also excluded from term-limit calculations any legislative service initiated from elections held prior to the original term limits effective date of December 3, 1992.

In 2002, voters amended the term limit provision (Article III, Section 8) to allow those filling seats vacated after a term's midpoint the opportunity to subsequently run for up to four complete two-year House terms and/or up to two complete four-year Senate terms. Prior to this provision, any partial service counted as a full term, effectively becoming the first of four possible two-year House terms and/or the first of two possible four-year Senate terms.

Lawmakers completing un-expired terms at the time of the partial service provision's 2002 passage must still count their partial service as full terms in term-limit calculations. Senator Victor Callahan was the first Senate member able to exclude partial service from his term limit calculation.

In the Senate, term limits rendered three members ineligible to run for Senate re-election in 2006. Five current members will be ineligible to run for Senate re-election in 2008.

These numbers are subject to change as members may resign, retire or be defeated at their next election.

Article III - Legislative Department

Section 8 - Term limitations for members of General Assembly.

Term limits language as originally adopted November 3, 1992

No one shall be elected or appointed to serve more than eight years total in any one house of the General Assembly nor more than sixteen years total in both houses of the General Assembly. In applying this section, service in the General Assembly resulting from an election or appointment prior to the effective date of this section shall not be counted.

Current term limits language as amended November 5, 2002, to include the partial service provision.

No one shall be elected to serve more than eight years total in any one house of the General Assembly nor more than sixteen years total in both houses of the General Assembly. In applying this section, service in the General Assembly resulting from an election prior to December 3, 1992, or service of less than one year, in the case of a member of the house of representatives, or two years, in the case of a member of the senate, by a person elected after the effective date of this section to complete the term of another person, shall not be counted.