Peace officer license required, when - classes of officers established - no ...
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 590.020
in effect590.020. Peace officer license required, when — classes of officers established — no license required, when. — 1. No person shall hold a commission as a peace officer without a valid peace officer license.
2. The director shall establish various classes of peace officer license and may provide that certain classes are not valid for commission within counties of certain classifications, by certain state agencies, or for commission as other than a reserve peace officer with police powers restricted to the commissioning political subdivision.
3. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, no license shall be required:
(1) Of any person who has no power of arrest;
(2) To seek or hold an elected county office, subject to such requirements as chapter 57 may impose;
(3) To be commissioned pursuant to section 64.335 as a park ranger not carrying a firearm;
(4) To be commissioned as a peace officer by a political subdivision having less than four full-time paid peace officers or a population less than two thousand, provided that such commission was in effect on August 28, 2001, and continually since that date, and provided that this exception shall not apply to any commission within a county of the first class having a charter form of government;
(5) Of any reserve officer continually holding the same commission since August 15, 1988; or
(6) For any person continually holding any commission as a full-time peace officer since December 31, 1978.
4. Any political subdivision or law enforcement agency may require its peace officers to meet standards more stringent than those required for licensure pursuant to this chapter.
(L. 2001 H.B. 80)
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=590.020Fetched: 10/17/2026