EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 250
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BRATTIN.
1419S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 173.275, 442.566, 442.571, 442.576, and 442.591, RSMo, and to enact in lieu
thereof seven new sections relating to foreign ownership of property, with an
emergency clause.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 173.275, 442.566, 442.571, 442.576, 1
and 442.591, RSMo, are repealed and seven new sections enacted 2
in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 33.860, 173.275, 3
262.970, 442.566, 442.571, 442.576, and 442.591, to read as 4
follows:5
33.860. 1. No state department or agency shall 1
implement any program which confers a state public bene fit 2
on or relating to any foreign -owned property. 3
2. As used in this section, the term "state public 4
benefit" shall include any grant, contract, loan, or tax 5
credit provided by a department or agency of state 6
government. 7
173.275. 1. As used in this section, the following 1
terms shall mean: 2
(1) "Foreign government", any government other than 3
the government of the United States or any state or 4
political subdivision of the United States; 5
(2) "Foreign legal entity", any legal entity created 6
under the laws of: 7
(a) A foreign government; or 8 SB 250 2
(b) The United States, or any state of the United 9
States, if a majority of the ownership of the stock of such 10
legal entity is directly or indirectly owned, legally or 11
beneficially, by one or more foreign governments, foreign 12
persons, or legal entities created under the laws of a 13
foreign government, or if a majority of the membership of 14
any such entity is composed of foreign persons or legal 15
entities created under th e laws of a foreign government. 16
The term "foreign legal entity" shall include agents of such 17
entities; 18
(3) "Foreign person", any individual who is not a 19
citizen or national of the United States, or any trust 20
territory or protectorate of the Unit ed States. The term 21
"foreign person" shall include agents of such persons; 22
(4) "Gift", any endowment, gift, grant, contract, 23
award, or property of any kind [; 24
(5) "Institution of higher education" or 25
"institution", the University of Missouri , Lincoln 26
University, the state colleges, community colleges and 27
teachers' colleges]. 28
2. [Every institution of higher education shall 29
disclose to the department of higher education and workforce 30
development the amount, terms, restrictions, condit ions, and 31
requirements attached to or made a part of any gift from any 32
foreign government, foreign legal entity, or foreign person 33
which has a value of one hundred thousand dollars or more, 34
made to such institution of higher education in any fiscal 35
year if any term, restriction, condition or requirement 36
attached to or made a part of any such gift is a violation 37
of, or would cause the institution of higher education to be 38
in violation of, any federal or state law relating to 39 SB 250 3
discrimination on the b asis of race, creed, color, sex, age, 40
marital status, ethnic background, or religion. If any 41
foreign government, foreign entity, or foreign person makes 42
more than one gift to any institution of higher education in 43
any fiscal year of such institution, such institution shall 44
make the report required by this subsection if the aggregate 45
value of all gifts from any one foreign government, foreign 46
legal entity, or foreign person is one hundred thousand 47
dollars or more in such fiscal year. 48
3. The information to be furnished to the department 49
of higher education and workforce development shall be 50
forwarded to the department no later than thirty days after 51
the final day of the fiscal year of each institution of 52
higher education, and shall include: 53
(1) The amount of each gift and the date on which it 54
was received by the institution; 55
(2) When a gift is conditional, a matching gift, or 56
designated for a particular purpose, the full details of the 57
conditions, matching provisions or designa tion; 58
(3) In the case of a gift by a foreign government, the 59
name of such government; 60
(4) In the case of a gift by a foreign legal entity or 61
foreign person, the name of the foreign country in which 62
such foreign legal entity or foreign person is principally 63
located or has his principal residence; 64
(5) The purpose for which the gift will be used; and 65
(6) The name of the foreign legal entity which made 66
the gift if the gift: 67
(a) Contains conditions or restrictions regarding the 68
control of curricula, employment or termination of faculty 69
members, admission of students, or student fees and tuition; 70
or 71 SB 250 4
(b) Is contingent upon the agreement of the 72
institution to take specific public positions or actions, or 73
to award honorary degrees. 74
4. All information disclosed and furnished to the 75
department of higher education and workforce development 76
under this section shall be deemed a public record under 77
sections 610.010 to 610.030 and shall be made available by 78
the department to the general public for inspection, review 79
and copying during the department's normal business hours. ] 80
(1) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a 81
public institution of higher education shall not accept any 82
gift from a foreign gov ernment, foreign legal entity, or 83
foreign person. 84
(2) This subsection shall not be construed to prohibit 85
a public institution of higher education from accepting 86
tuition payments from students from foreign countries. 87
262.970. 1. No alien or foreign business shall build 1
an electricity generating facility on agricultural zoned 2
land, as described in section 262.805, owned by such alien 3
or foreign business in the state after August 28, 2025. 4
2. For purposes of this section, "electricity 5
generating facility" means a facility used to convert 6
energy, including but not limited to solar and wind power, 7
to produce electricity which consists of one or more power 8
generating modules connected to a network of one or more 9
connection points. 10
442.566. As used in sections 442.560 to 442.591, 1
unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the following 2
terms mean: 3
(1) "Agricultural land", any tract of land in this 4
state consisting of more than five acres, w hether inside or 5
outside the corporate limits of any municipality, which is 6 SB 250 5
capable, without substantial modification to the character 7
of the land, of supporting an agricultural enterprise, 8
including but not limited to land used for the production of 9
agricultural crops or fruit or other horticultural products, 10
or for the raising or feeding of animals for the production 11
of livestock or livestock products, poultry or poultry 12
products, or milk or dairy products. Adjacent parcels of 13
land under the same ownership shall be deemed to be a single 14
tract; 15
(2) "Alien", any person who is not a citizen of the 16
United States and who is not a resident of the United States 17
or of some state, territory, trusteeship, or protectorate of 18
the United States; 19
(3) "Director", the director of the Missouri 20
department of agriculture; 21
(4) "Family members" includes all persons within the 22
ninth degree of consanguinity, or the living or surviving 23
spouse of any person within the ninth degree of 24
consanguinity; 25
(5) "Foreign business", any business entity whether or 26
not incorporated, including but not limited to companies, 27
corporations, professional corporations, nonprofit 28
corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, 29
limited partnerships, [and] associations, or the equivalent 30
of any entity listed in this subdivision, in which a 31
controlling interest is owned by aliens or organized under 32
the laws of a foreign country, or both . In determining 33
ownership of a foreign business, legal fiction s such as 34
corporate form or trust shall be disregarded; 35
(6) "Residence", the place of general abode; the place 36
of general abode of a person means his principal, actual 37 SB 250 6
dwelling place in fact, where he intends to remain 38
permanently or for an indef inite period of time at least. 39
442.571. 1. Except as provided in sections 442.586 1
and 442.591, [no alien or foreign business shall acquire by 2
grant, purchase, devise, descent or otherwise agricultural 3
land in this state if the total aggregate alien and foreign 4
ownership of agricultural acreage in this state exceeds one 5
percent of the total aggregate agricultural acreage in this 6
state. A sale or transfer of any agricultural land in this 7
state shall be submitted to the director of the department 8
of agriculture for review in accordance with subsection 3 of 9
this section only if there is no completed Internal Revenue 10
Service Form W-9 signed by the purchaser ] beginning on the 11
effective date of this section, no alien, foreign busine ss, 12
or foreign government shall acquire by grant, purchase, 13
devise, descent, or otherwise any agricultural land in this 14
state. Any alien, foreign business, or foreign government 15
who acquired any agricultural land in this state prior to 16
the effective date of this section shall not grant, sell, or 17
otherwise transfer such agricultural land to any other 18
alien, foreign business, or foreign government on or after 19
the effective date of this section . No person may hold 20
agricultural land as an agent, trus tee, or other fiduciary 21
for an alien [or], foreign business, or foreign government 22
in violation of sections 442.560 to 442.592, provided, 23
however, that no security interest in such agricultural land 24
shall be divested or invalidated by such violation. 25
2. Any alien [or], foreign business, or foreign 26
government who acquires agricultural land in violation of 27
sections 442.560 to 442.592 remains in violation of sections 28
442.560 to 442.592 for as long as [he or she] the alien, 29
foreign business, or fo reign government holds an interest in 30 SB 250 7
the land, provided, however, that no security interest in 31
such agricultural land shall be divested or invalidated by 32
such violation. 33
3. Subject to the provisions of subsection 1 of this 34
section, [such] all proposed [acquisitions] transfers on or 35
after the effective date of this section by grant, purchase, 36
devise, descent, or otherwise of any interest in 37
agricultural land held by any alien, foreign business, or 38
foreign government in this state shall be subm itted at least 39
thirty calendar days prior to when such transfers of such 40
agricultural land are finalized to the department of 41
agriculture to determine whether such [acquisition] transfer 42
of agricultural land is conveyed in accordance with the [one 43
percent restriction on the total aggregate ] prohibition on 44
alien and foreign ownership of agricultural land in this 45
state under this section. Such sale or transfer submitted 46
for review shall be deemed a closed record under chapter 610 47
until such sale is finalized. The department shall 48
establish by rule the requirements for submission and 49
approval of requests under this subsection. 50
4. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is 51
defined in section 536.010, that is created under the 52
authority delegated in this section shall become effective 53
only if it complies with and is subject to all of the 54
provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 55
536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and 56
if any of the powers vested with the general assembly 57
pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective 58
date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently 59
held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking 60
authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 61
2014, shall be invalid and void. 62 SB 250 8
442.576. 1. If the director finds that an alien [or], 1
foreign business, or foreign government or an agent, 2
trustee, or other fiduciary therefor has acquired 3
agricultural land in Missouri [in violation of sections 4
442.560 to 442.592] after the effective date of this 5
section, or the land ceases to be used for nonagricultural 6
purposes under section 442.591, he or she shall report the 7
violation to the attorney general. 8
2. The attorney general shall in stitute an action in 9
the circuit court of Cole County or the circuit court in any 10
county in which agricultural land owned by the alien or 11
foreign business, agent, trustee or other fiduciary, alleged 12
to have violated sections 442.560 to 442.592, is loca ted. 13
3. The attorney general shall file a notice of the 14
pendency of the action with the recorder of deeds of each 15
county in which any portion of such agricultural lands is 16
located. If the court finds that the lands in question have 17
been acquired in violation of sections 442.560 to 442.592, 18
it shall enter an order so declaring and shall file a copy 19
of the order with the recorder of deeds of each county in 20
which any portion of the agricultural lands is located. The 21
court shall order the owner to divest himself of the 22
agricultural land. The owner must comply with the order 23
within two years. The two-year limitation period shall be a 24
covenant running with the title to the land against any 25
alien grantee or assignee. Provided, however, an 26
incorporated foreign business must divest itself of 27
agricultural land within the minimum time required by 28
Article XI, Section 5, of the Missouri Constitution. Any 29
agricultural lands not divested within the time prescribed 30
shall be ordered sold by the co urt at a public sale in the 31 SB 250 9
manner prescribed by law for the foreclosure of a mortgage 32
on real estate for default in payment. 33
442.591. The restrictions set forth in sections 1
442.560 to 442.592 shall not apply to agricultural land or 2
any interest therein acquired by an alien or foreign 3
business for immediate or potential use in nonfarming 4
purposes. An alien or foreign business may hold such 5
agricultural land in such acreage as may be necessary to its 6
nonfarm business operation; p rovided, however, that pending 7
the development of agricultural land for nonfarm purposes, 8
such land may not be used for farming except under lease to 9
a family farm unit; a family farm corporation defined in 10
section 350.010; an alien or foreign business which has 11
filed with the director under sections 442.560 to 442.592; 12
or except when controlled through ownership, options, 13
leaseholds or other agreements by a corporation which has 14
entered into an agreement with the United States of America 15
pursuant to the New Community Act of 1968 (Title IV of the 16
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 3901 - 17
3914), as amended, or a subsidiary or assignee of such a 18
corporation. As used in this section, the term "nonfarming" 19
includes, but is not limit ed to, the conducting and active 20
operation of research or experimentation for the purpose of 21
developing or improving any type of agricultural practice, 22
tool, device, or implement or animal health research, animal 23
nutrition research, raising genetic tra its that are used for 24
human or animal research, or animals raised for exhibition. 25
Section B. Because of the danger of foreign ownership 1
of agricultural land, section A of this act is deemed 2
necessary for the immediate preservation of the public 3
health, welfare, peace, and safety, and is hereby declared 4
to be an emergency act within the meaning of the 5 SB 250 10
constitution, and section A of this act shall be in full 6
force and effect upon its passage and approval. 7