Table of Contents
Enacted Campus Free Speech Statutes – Missouri
In 2015, Missouri enacted SB 93, now Mo. Rev. Stat. § 173.1550.
SB 93 Summary
SB 93 eliminates policies that quarantine speech to misleadingly labeled “free speech zones” and provides a judicial remedy for violations of expressive rights.
Key Provisions
- Prohibits public institutions from quarantining speech with “free speech zones”; and
- Creates a cause of action allowing the attorney general or an aggrieved party to file a lawsuit to enforce their rights under the statute.
FIRE Commentary
Missouri Governor Signs Law Banning Campus Free Speech Zones
In 2025, Missouri enacted SB 160.
SB 160 Bill Summary
Among other provisions, SB 160 prohibits public institutions of higher education from punishing belief-based student organizations for their expression or for requiring their leaders to adhere to the organization’s sincerely held beliefs.
Key Provisions
- Ensures that students may form belief-based organizations and require their leaders or members to affirm the group’s sincerely held beliefs and comply with its standards of conduct;
- Prohibits public institutions of higher education from penalizing a belief-based student association for its viewpoint or for requiring members and leaders to adhere to the group’s sincerely held beliefs; and
- Allows organizations aggrieved by a violation of this law to assert that violation as a claim or defense in a judicial or administrative proceeding and obtain appropriate relief.