By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Perhaps this time, it will actually become law.
Max’s Law is once again on the governor’s desk.
State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer of Parkville has hope that this
year will be the year.
“This is the third year now that I’ve sponsored Max’s Law,”
Luetkemeyer tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
Luetkemeyer first carried the legislation in the session
following the death of K-9 Max. The St. Jospeh police dog was shot and killed
by a suspect he was chasing June 21st of 2021. It was discovered
after the death that under Missouri law the killing of a police animal was no
more significant than a property crime.
Luetkemeyer sought to change that.
“What Max’s Law does is it raises the offense of killing a law
enforcement canine to a felony offense so that somebody who does that they can actually
spend time in prison,” Luetkemeyer says.
In the 2022 Missouri legislative session, the anti-crime
measure that included Max’s Law ran out of time on the last day of the session.
In the 2023 Missouri legislative session, the anti-crime
package cleared the legislature only to be vetoed by Gov. Mike Parson on an
unrelated manner.
In the just concluded, 2024 session the anti-crime bill once
again passed the legislature and once again sits on Gov. Parson’s desk.
Luetkemeyer says he made sure this year to remove the
provisions that prompted the veto last year.
“The provisions that are left in the legislation from this
year, those are all things that in the governor’s veto letter last year he said
he wished the General Assembly would send back to him and put back on his desk
and Max’s Law was one of those things,” Luetkemeyer says.
Luetkemeyer says getting the bill through the legislative
session honors both the memory of Max and the St. Joseph police officer
assigned to Max.
“I got to have a call with Max’s handler, Lucas Winder, who is
still a police officer with the St. Joseph Police Department. He’s come down
the last several years to testify in support of the legislation. So just a
great day of celebration with Lucas who has been through a lot, obviously,”
Luetkemeyer says. “Happy that we were able to, A, get this bill in place to
protect our police canines, but also to memorialize Max.”
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.
