Offender abuse, penalty - employees not to use physical force, exception.
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 217.405
in effect217.405. Offender abuse, penalty — employees not to use physical force, exception. — 1. Except as provided in subsection 3 of this section, a person commits the offense of offender abuse if he or she knowingly injures the physical well-being of any offender under the jurisdiction of the department by beating, striking, wounding or by sexual contact with such person.
2. Offender abuse is a class D felony.
3. No employee of the department shall use any physical force on an offender except the employee shall have the right to use such physical force as is necessary to defend himself or herself, suppress an individual or group revolt or insurrection, enforce discipline or to secure the offender.
(L. 1982 H.B. 1196 § 26, A.L. 1989 H.B. 408, A.L. 2014 S.B. 491) Effective 1-01-17
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=217.405Fetched: 10/17/2026