Missouri will not only be choosing its representatives in Congress and the State Legislature in the 2022 midterms, there are five ballot questions as well. One of them will decide if the National Missouri Guard becomes an agency of the State. Referred to as Amendment 5, it would remove Army and Air national guards from the Missouri Department of Public Safety authority, and bring it under the direct control of the government. 

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People who support Amendment 5 say that bringing the National Guard away from DPS into the command of the governor would help reduce bureaucracy and the 16th state department will be able to operate under a clear chain of command since there would be a direct line of communication between the Guard and the governor’s office. 

What is Amendment 5 on the Missouri Ballot? 

Missouri Amendment 5, or the Department of the National Guard amendment, is present on the ballot in Missouri legislatively referred constitutional amendment for this year’s midterm election on November 8, 2022. 

This Amendment was created to make the Missouri Department of the National Guard as an administrative department within the state’s executive branch. The Missouri Department of National Guard is part of the Missouri Department of Public Safety as of now, and has been so since 1974. If turned to an executive department, the adjunct general who commands the Guard, will be a member of the governor’s cabinet. 

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This amendment would define the purpose of the Guard as “providing for the state militia, upholding the U.S. Constitution, upholding the Missouri Constitution, protecting the constitutional rights and civil liberties of Missourians, and providing other defenses as required.”

State Representative Adam Schnelting, a Republican, introduced this amendment in the Missouri House of Representatives, saying “when a disaster strikes … instead of the adjutant general and our military forces having to go through a bureaucratic process, he would answer directly to the governor.”

Amendment 5 would amend Section 12 of Article IV and add Section 54 to Article IV of the Missouri Constitution.