The Missouri General Assembly debated shortening the statute of limitations after returning to the Capitol for the 2022 legislative session on Jan. 5.
"We have made progress in Missouri over the past few years, including passing the COVID liability statute last year, but we need to do more to address a job crushing legal climate," said Kara Corches, vice president of governmental affairs with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce of and Industry. "So, a civil justice-related priority this year is modifying Missouri's statute of limitation for personal injury cases."
Currently, the statute of limitations for personal injury litigation is five years.
“That's actually significantly higher than most other states,” Corches told the St. Louis Record. “Forty-two states have statute of limitations that are three years or less. It's important because when you're talking about personal injury cases, in five years, witnesses could have passed away. It's really hard to get reliable evidence five years later."
The state currently has a two-year statute of limitations on medical malpractice claims while the Coronavirus Liability Reform Act, approved last year, also offers litigants two years to sue.
Senate Bill 631 would limit statute of limitations statewide to two years.
“There were a lot of different businesses and groups like us supporting the bill at the hearing,” Corches said. “On the opposing side, there were mostly trial attorneys. Changing the statute of limitations would bring more fairness to the legal climate and trial attorneys don't always like that.”
The proposal was introduced to the Senate by Sen. Dan Hegeman (R-Cosby) and to the House in the form of House Bill 2206 by Rep. Curtis Trent (R-Springfield).
Last year’s version of the bill, Senate Bill 3, was introduced by Hegeman, and HB 922, by Rep. Dan Houx (R-District 54), but was never voted on.
"It's nearly identical to my understanding,” Corches added. “There are so many bills to get through and sometimes things take multiple years to get done. Hopefully, people are more familiar with the issue this year after having spent time on it last year.”