The Missouri attorney general will have the sole power to remove most sheriffs from office.
Amendment 8 narrowly passed with 51% of the final but unofficial vote.
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The plan will enshrined sheriff elections in the constitution and require that sheriffs in most Missouri counties serve four-year terms. Amendment 8 covers all Missouri counties except for St. Louis, St. Louis County and St. Charles County.
Most sheriffs are already elected across the state.
Local prosecutors can currently take sheriffs to court to remove them from office. Opponents said the amendment would make it harder for problematic sheriffs to be removed from office and relinquish local control. Supporters and state lawmakers said this would preserve local control of sheriff’s offices and would prevent future state legislatures from replacing sheriffs with a state police force.
The vote comes about a year after St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery was removed from office after the attorney general filed what’s known as a quo warranto to oust him. A judge ruled he neglected his duties as sheriff and had forfeited his office.
Montgomery has been in jail since October 2025 awaiting a separate federal trial on a variety of charges including witness tampering. Former St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden Jr. has been serving as sheriff since.
