How does criminal justice work in Missouri? What options exist for offenders in Missouri? This article provides a summary of crime and justice in Missouri.

How many people are incarcerated in Missouri? What are the biggest prisons in Missouri? Answering these questions places one on the path to understanding the scope of Missouri’s criminal justice system. To get started, the Bureau of Justice Assistance reports that Missouri has the 12th highest incarceration rate in the nation, incarcerating 374 people for every 100,000 residents in the state. Missouri is just above Florida’s per capita incarceration but just behind Ohio.¹

The National Institute of Corrections calculates an even higher incarceration rate for Missouri, estimating that 424 Missourians for every 100,000 are exposed to the incarceration system. To hold those prisoners, Missouri operates 117 jails in 115 counties. The jail population as of 2019 was 12,000. Missouri also operates 22 state prisons, which hold an estimated 26,044 inmates. Missouri’s community corrections program has 43,413 people under probation and 21,520 under parole.²

Missouri operates its Department of Corrections with a staff complement of 11,232 and an annual budget of $778,431,128. According to the Urban Institute, Missouri’s Department of Corrections is the 7th costliest item in the state’s budget.³

Missouri has not contracted with private prisons since 2010 when the last two private prisons in the state closed. There is one federal prison, which the North Central Regional Office of the Federal Bureau of Prisons oversees. The Potosi Correctional Center is Missouri’s largest state prison, with a current population of about 800 inmates.⁴

What is the crime rate in Missouri? Violent crime fell by 5.27% from 2020 to 2021. Missouri recorded 31,601 violent crimes in 2021, a dip from 2020 but about the same as in 2017, 2018, and 2019.⁵

Photo by Gino Santa Maria/Shutterstock.com

Murder rates fell significantly between 2020 and 2021. Missouri recorded 618 murders in 2021, a 15% drop from 732 murders in 2020. Aggravated assaults were also down, showcasing a 4.7% drop from 25,204 incidents in 2020 to 24,010 in 2021. Robberies dropped 18%. Sexual assault was the only violent crime to increase in Missouri, up 14% from 2020.

A critical part of understanding a state’s criminal justice system is analyzing the statistical data on recidivism. According to the Missouri Reentry Process Report to the Governor, Missouri’s recidivism rate is 43.9%, indicating Missouri’s criminal justice system is not working for almost half of those who go through it.⁶

However, due to the Missouri Reentry Process Steering Team, offenders released after 2014 have just a 36% recidivism rate, suggesting changes are being made in Missouri prisons that have some efficacy for reducing recidivism. In the future, Missouri criminal justice reform’s goal should be further reducing recidivism via effective, evidence-based criminal rehabilitation programs.

Image courtesy of doc.mo.gov

The Missouri Department of Corrections has implemented several rehabilitation programs in prisons in Missouri. Some of these include:⁷

• Educational programs like academic education and vocational education
• Medical services to improve the physical health and quality of life of inmates
• Treatment, education, and rehabilitation programs for convicted sex offenders
• Behavioral health services to improve mental, emotional, and psychological health
• Substance abuse and recovery treatment services to help inmates who struggle with addiction

Another branch of criminal justice in Missouri is alternatives to incarceration. Missouri should invest intentionally in programs that keep offenders out of jail, especially Missouri residents convicted of nonviolent offenses. Some of the alternatives to incarceration in Missouri include:

• DWI treatment programs
• Juvenile treatment court for youth offenders
• Programs for nonviolent offenses committed by veterans
• Drug and alcohol treatment programs for drug-related crimes
• Family treatment programs for family court-based infractions
• Diversion and redirection programs to keep offenders out of jail
• Deferred prosecution, electronic monitoring, and community service programs

The Missouri courts have more recently invested additional resources in expanding alternatives to incarceration, especially in St. Louis. Such models should be expanded and replicated across the state.⁸

Educational programs inside prisons in Missouri should be expanded, as should rehabilitation programs inside prisons in Missouri. Missouri has made some improvements in criminal justice, and only by improving the lives of offenders and their families will Missouri policymakers and criminal justice experts create lasting, positive change in crime rates, public safety, and quality of life for residents.