FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 765
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR NICOLA.
3084S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 182.827, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to
materials in public schools that are obscene or harmful to minors.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 182.827, RSMo, is repealed and two new 1
sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 2
162.116 and 182.827, to read as follows:3
162.116. 1. As used in this section, the following 1
terms mean: 2
(1) "Charter school", th e same definition as in 3
section 160.400; 4
(2) "Department", the Missouri department of 5
elementary and secondary education; 6
(3) "Explicit material", obscene material or material 7
that is harmful to minors; 8
(4) "Governing board", the gover ning board of a 9
charter school established under sections 160.400 to 160.425; 10
(5) "Harmful to minors", the quality of a description 11
or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual 12
excitement, sexual conduct, excessive violence, or 13
sadomasochistic abuse that: 14
(a) The average person applying contemporary community 15
standards would find to predominantly appeal to the 16
prurient, shameful, or morbid interests of minors; 17 SB 765 2
(b) Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in 18
the contemporary adult community as a whole with respect to 19
what is suitable for minors; and 20
(c) When taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, 21
artistic, political, or scientific value for minors; 22
(6) "Material", any of the following: 23
(a) A book, magazine, newspaper, or other printed or 24
written material; 25
(b) A picture, drawing, photograph, film, video, 26
computer-generated image, or other pictorial representation; 27
(c) A statue, figure, device, theatrical production, 28
or electrical reproduction; or 29
(d) Other similar articles, equipment, machines, or 30
materials; 31
(7) "Obscene", spoken or written matter that, when 32
taken as a whole: 33
(a) The average person would find to predominantly 34
appeal to prurient interest; 35
(b) The average person applying contemporary community 36
standards would find to depict or describe sexual conduct in 37
a patently offensive way; and 38
(c) Lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or 39
scientific value; 40
(8) "Parent", a parent, guard ian, or other person 41
having control or custody of a child; 42
(9) "Patently offensive", going substantially beyond 43
customary limits of candor in describing or representing 44
such subject; 45
(10) "Public school", the same definition as in 46
section 160.011. The term shall be construed to include a 47
charter school; 48 SB 765 3
(11) "School board", the same definition as in section 49
160.011; 50
(12) "School district", the same definition as in 51
section 160.011. 52
2. No school district or public school shall allow 53
obscene material or material that is harmful to minors to be 54
available to a child: 55
(1) In a school library controlled by the school 56
district or public school; or 57
(2) From materials kept or used by a teacher in the 58
course of preparing for or providing instruction to children 59
enrolled in a public school. 60
3. (1) Each school board and governing board shall 61
adopt a policy that allows a parent of a child enrolled in a 62
public school to report to the public school administrati on 63
if the parent becomes aware that obscene material or 64
material that is harmful to minors is made available to 65
children as described in subsection 2 of this section. 66
(2) The policy required under subdivision (1) of this 67
subsection shall require the public school administration to 68
remove the material reported by a parent as obscene or 69
harmful to minors for at least thirty calendar days to allow 70
the school board or governing board, as applicable, to 71
review the material to determine whether the material is 72
obscene, harmful to minors, or appropriate for students. 73
(3) (a) The school board or governing board, as 74
applicable, shall determine if the material is obscene or 75
harmful to minors before the next regularly scheduled 76
meeting of the school board or governing board, as 77
applicable, after the thirty -day removal period of the 78
material as described in subdivision (2) of this subsection. 79 SB 765 4
(b) If the school board or governing board determines 80
that the material is obscene or harmful to minors, the board 81
shall permanently remove the material from the public school. 82
(c) If the school board or governing board determines 83
that the material is appropriate for students, the board 84
shall return the material to each school library or tea cher 85
from which the material was removed upon the board's 86
determination that the material is appropriate for students 87
or at the end of the thirty -day removal period described in 88
subdivision (2) of this subsection, whichever is earlier. 89
(4) The policy adopted under this section shall not be 90
construed to: 91
(a) Be the exclusive means to remove material from a 92
school; or 93
(b) Preclude a school district or governing board from 94
developing or implementing additional policies, practices, 95
or procedures for the removal of materials from the school. 96
(5) If a public school fails to comply with a policy 97
adopted under this section, the department may withhold an 98
amount of state funds, as determined by the department, from 99
the public school until the public school is in compliance 100
with the policy. 101
(6) Each public school shall annually report to the 102
department the material that is permanently removed under 103
paragraph (b) of subdivision (3) of this subsection. 104
182.827. 1. A public school that provides a public 1
access computer shall apply the provisions of section 2
162.116 that are applicable to materials made available to a 3
child in a school library to materials accessed by minors on 4
such public access computer a nd do one or both of the 5
following: 6 SB 765 5
(1) Equip the computer with software that will limit 7
minors' ability to gain access to material that is 8
pornographic for minors or purchase internet connectivity 9
from an internet service provider that provides filter 10
services to limit access to material that is pornographic 11
for minors; 12
(2) Develop and implement by January 1, 2003, a policy 13
that is consistent with community standards and establishes 14
measures to restrict minors from gaining computer acce ss to 15
material that is pornographic for minors. 16
2. The department of elementary and secondary 17
education shall establish rules and regulations for the 18
enforcement of subsection 1 of this section. Any rule or 19
portion of a rule, as that term is def ined in section 20
536.010, that is created under the authority delegated in 21
this section shall become effective only if it complies with 22
and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536 and, 23
if applicable, section 536.028. This section and chapter 24
536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with 25
the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to 26
delay the effective date or to disapprove and annul a rule 27
are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of 28
rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after 29
August 28, 2002, shall be invalid and void. 30
3. A public library that provides a public access 31
computer shall do one or both of the following: 32
(1) Equip the computer with software that will limit 33
minors' ability to gain access to material that is 34
pornographic for minors or purchase internet connectivity 35
from an internet service provider that provides filter 36
services to limit access to material that is pornographic 37
for minors; 38 SB 765 6
(2) Develop and implement by January 1, 2003, a policy 39
that is consistent with community standards and establishes 40
measures to restrict minors from gaining computer access to 41
material that is pornographic for minors. 42
4. The secretary of state shall establish ru les and 43
regulations for the enforcement of subsection 3 of this 44
section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is 45
defined in section 536.010, that is created under the 46
authority delegated in this section shall become effective 47
only if it complies with and is subject to all of the 48
provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 49
536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and 50
if any of the powers vested with the general assembly 51
pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective 52
date or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held 53
unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and 54
any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2002, shall be 55
invalid and void. 56
5. Any public school board member, officer or 57
employee, including library personnel, who willfully 58
neglects or refuses to perform a duty imposed by this 59
section shall be subject to the penalties imposed pursuant 60
to section 162.091. 61
6. A public school or public school board member , 62
officer or employee, including library personnel, public 63
library or public library board member, officer, employee or 64
trustee that complies with subsection 1 or 3 of this section 65
or an internet service provider providing internet 66
connectivity to such public school or library in order to 67
comply with this section shall not be criminally liable or 68
liable for any damages that might arise from a minor gaining 69
access to material that is pornographic for minors through 70 SB 765 7
the use of a public access compute r that is owned or 71
controlled by the public school or public library. 72