By Sarah Motter | Published: Jan. 26, 2026 at 1:13 PM CST
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Missouri’s Supreme Court unanimously struck down a law that gave politicians control over ballot initiative language.
The Friday, Jan. 23, ruling invalidates Senate Bill 22. Critics called it the “Let Politicians Lie Act.”
What the court decided
On Friday, the Supreme Court said justices reversed a lower court ruling and threw out Senate Bill 22 in its entirety.
The court noted that it found the bill violated Missouri’s constitution. Specifically, it broke the “original purpose requirement.”Missouri’s constitution bars lawmakers from changing a bill’s original purpose as it moves through the legislature.
Chief Justice W. Brent Powell wrote the unanimous opinion.
What Senate Bill 22 did
The legislature passed Senate Bill 22 in 2025. The bill made several major changes to Missouri’s ballot initiative process:
Expanded AG powers: The attorney general gained new authority to appeal preliminary injunctions blocking state laws
Stripped judges’ powers: Courts could no longer rewrite misleading or unfair ballot summaries
Gave politicians control: The secretary of state and legislature gained authority to revise ballot language
Required legislative summaries: Lawmakers’ ballot descriptions had to appear unless successfully challenged in court. That last change proved fatal to the entire bill.
Why the court struck it down
Senate Bill 22 started as a bill about ballot summaries. But lawmakers added a floor amendment that gave the attorney general sweeping new appeal powers.
The Supreme Court ruled that the amendment changed the bill’s original purpose.
“The addition of section 526.010, vesting the attorney general with the power to appeal preliminary injunctions, is not germane to the review of ballot summaries,” the court wrote.
READ MORE: Court documents reveal details of fatal shooting at ‘The Hawk’
Under Missouri’s constitution, that made the entire bill invalid.
The Court said it also found no evidence that the legislature would have passed the bill without the problematic amendment.
The lawsuit
Missouri taxpayer Sean Soendker Nicholson, of Lee’s Summit, sued state officials in 2025. He challenged the law’s constitutionality.
The Cole County Circuit Court initially ruled the bill did not violate those provisions. But it found the bill violated the state constitution’s equal protection clause.
Both sides appealed.
The Supreme Court indicated that it reversed the lower court’s decision. It found the bill violated the original purpose requirement. That made the entire law invalid.
Voting rights advocates celebrate
The Missouri Voter Protection Coalition praised the ruling. The group had warned lawmakers about the bill’s constitutional problems.
READ ON: KCTV5’s Beyond the Border special examines immigration in Kansas City
“Senate Bill 22 eliminated critical checks and balances from Missouri’s ballot initiative process,” said Denise Lieberman, director and general counsel of the coalition.
She said the law gave politicians power to rewrite ballot language even after courts found it illegal. It also expanded the attorney general’s ability to block citizen-led ballot measures.
“Our democracy relies on the checks and balances that our constitution requires,” Lieberman said. “And the court saw that this measure sought to regulate large swaths of legal, legislative and executive power well beyond its original purpose.”
The coalition said it will continue working to protect Missourians’ access to the ballot initiative process.
Lawmakers respond
State Senator Rick Brattin (R-Lee’s Summit), the bill’s sponsor, sharply criticized the court’s decision.
“This decision is judicial activism, plain and simple,” Brattin said in a statement to KCTV5.
“The Court did not just strike one part of the bill. They threw out the entire law and then made excuses to justify it. They speculated about politics and motives instead of applying settled law on severability.”
Brattin argued the court’s real motivation was protecting its own authority.
DISCOVER: Here is why your tax refund might be more this year
“The real issue is obvious. SB 22 limited the power of judges and gave it back to the people’s elected representatives, who are accountable to the voters. The Court did not like that, so they came up with a reason to kill the bill.”
He called the ruling unconstitutional.
“Courts are supposed to interpret the law, not protect their own power. This ruling is wrong, and Missourians deserve a judiciary that follows the Constitution instead of bending it to get the outcome they want.”
The Attorney General’s Office said AG Catherine Hanaway will work to craft new language to achieve its goals:
“We respectfully disagree with the Missouri Supreme Court in regard to its decision to strike down Senate Bill 22 in its entirety. Attorney General Hanaway continues to support legislative efforts toward ballot title reform, as well as the ability to challenge overreaching preliminary injunctions that impact the lives of Missourians. We look forward to working alongside the General Assembly to craft new language that will achieve these goals.”
The Secretary of State’s office has not yet released a statement.
What happens next
The ruling immediately invalidates Senate Bill 22. Missouri’s ballot initiative process returns to the rules that existed before the law passed.
Courts now have their authority restored to rewrite misleading ballot summaries. The attorney general no longer has the expanded appeal powers the bill granted.
It remains unclear whether lawmakers will attempt to pass a revised version of the legislation that addresses the constitutional concerns.
Why this matters
Missouri voters frequently use ballot initiatives to pass laws directly, according to the State Court Report. In recent years, voters approved major policy changes that the legislature refused to enact:
- Medicaid expansion (2020): Voters approved Amendment 2 with 53% of the vote, expanding health coverage to low-income adults.
- Recreational marijuana (2022): Voters approved Amendment 3 with 53% of the vote, legalizing marijuana for adults over 21.
- Abortion rights (2024): Voters approved Amendment 3 with 52% of the vote, overturning the state’s near-total abortion ban and protecting reproductive freedom.
- Minimum wage increases; Voters approved wage hikes in 2018 (Proposition B, 62% approval) and again in 2024 (Proposition A, 58% approval) to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour and require paid sick leave.
Senate Bill 22 would have given elected officials more control over how those initiatives appear on the ballot.
Voting rights advocates argued this could allow politicians to write misleading summaries that discourage voters from supporting citizen-led measures.
With the law now struck down, judges retain their role as neutral arbiters of ballot language fairness.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
Read the article here: https://www.kctv5.com/2026/01/26/missouri-supreme-court-strikes-down-law-that-gave-politicians-control-over-ballot-language/