Mo. Rev. Stat. » Chapter 116
Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 116.334 (2026)

✓ current as of May 2026
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  *116.334.  Petition approval required, procedure to obtain petition title or summary statement — rejection or approval of petition, procedure — circulation of petition prior to approval, effect — signatures, deadline for filing. — 1.  If the petition form is approved, the secretary of state shall make a copy of the sample petition available on the secretary of state's website.  For a period of fifteen days after the petition is approved as to form, the secretary of state shall accept public comments regarding the proposed measure and provide copies of such comments upon request.  Within twenty-three days of receipt of such approval, the secretary of state shall prepare and transmit to the attorney general a summary statement of the measure which shall be a concise statement not exceeding one hundred words.  This statement shall be in the form of a question using language neither intentionally argumentative nor likely to create prejudice either for or against the proposed measure.  The attorney general shall within ten days approve the legal content and form of the proposed statement.

  2.  Signatures obtained prior to the date the official ballot title is certified by the secretary of state shall not be counted.  Once the secretary of state certifies the official ballot title, signatures may be collected, even if the ballot title is subject to an action in court challenging the sufficiency and fairness of the ballot title.  If a court orders a change that alters the content of the official ballot title, then all signatures gathered before such change occurred shall not be invalidated based upon the fact that one or more signatures were gathered prior to the alteration of the official ballot title, regardless of whether those signatures were gathered on petition pages that displayed what was previously the official ballot title as certified by the secretary of state. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the invalidation of a signature for a reason otherwise allowed by this chapter.

  3.  Signatures for statutory initiative petitions shall be filed not later than six months prior to the general election during which the petition's ballot measure is submitted for a vote, and shall also be collected not earlier than the day after the day upon which the previous general election was held.

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(L. 1985 H.B. 543 § 2, A.L. 1997 S.B. 132, A.L. 2013 H.B. 117, A.L. 2025 S.B. 22)

*Revisor's Note:  This section was declared unconstitutional in Nicholson v. State of Missouri, et al. (see 2026 annotation below).

(2022) Section prohibiting the circulation of referendum petitions before official ballot title is certified and affixed to petition violates right of referendum under article III, §§ 49, 52(a).  No Bans on Choice v. Ashcroft, 638 S.W.3d 484 (Mo.banc).

(2026)  Provisions of S.B. 22 from 2025 declared unconstitutional as violating the original purpose requirement of Article III, § 21 of the Missouri Constitution.  Finding the offending provisions cannot be severed, the Court declared S.B. 22 invalid in its entirety.  Nicholson v. State of Missouri, et al., No. SC101308, January 23, 2026 (Mo.banc).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 40 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1990–2025 · leading case: Hill v. Ashcroft, 526 S.W.3d 299 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017).
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Hill v. Ashcroft, 526 S.W.3d 299 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 31× “Public Comment Period Section 116.334 Plaintiff Evans alleges that the circuit court erred in holding that the Secretary of State complied with the public comment process for initiative petitions as established in section 116.”
Missourians Against Human Cloning v. Carnahan, 190 S.W.3d 451 (Mo. Ct. App. 2006). · cites it 14× “332, the Secretary of State prepares a summary statement of the initiative not to exceed 100 words, § 116.334. The summary "shall be in the form of a question using language neither intentionally argumentative nor likely to create prejudice either for or against the proposed…”
Brown v. Missouri Sec'y of State, 370 S.W.3d 637 (Mo. 2012). · cites it 4× “This Court finds that the trial court rightly rejected Brown’s arguments challenging the insufficiency and unfairness of the secretary of state’s summary statement.”
Am. Civil Liberties Union of Missouri & Sara E. Baker v. John R. Ashcroft, 577 S.W.3d 881 (Mo. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 4× “" Section 116.334 prohibits the proponent of a referendum petition from beginning the signature collection process essential to filing a referendum petition until the steps described in sections 116.”
Cures Without Cloning v. Pund, 259 S.W.3d 76 (Mo. Ct. App. 2008). · cites it 4× “Under Section 116.334, the Secretary is charged with preparing a summary statement that is "neither intentionally argumentative nor likely to create prejudice either for or against the proposed measure.”
Missourians to Protect the Initiative Process v. Blunt, 799 S.W.2d 824 (Mo. 1990). · cites it 2× “In § 116.334, the requirement that the Attorney General shall examine the petition as to form is reiterated and, when so approved, the Secretary submits a proposed "petition title" of 100 words or less (this later serves as the "ballot title") to the Attorney General for…”
Missouri Mun. League v. Carnahan, 303 S.W.3d 573 (Mo. Ct. App. 2010). · cites it 2× “Upon receipt of the fiscal notes and summaries, the Secretary prepared ballot summary statements as required by Section 116.334. The statements were approved by the Attorney General’s Office as to legal content and form.”
United Gamefowl Breeders Ass'n of Missouri v. Nixon, 19 S.W.3d 137 (Mo. 2000). · cites it 2× “Section 116.334. The ballot title for Proposition A was about 100 words.”
State Ex Rel. Humane Soc'y of Missouri v. Beetem, 317 S.W.3d 669 (Mo. Ct. App. 2010). “” § 116.334. This summary statement is attached to the petition as it circulates for signatures and appears on the ballot at Election Day.”
State of Missouri ex rel Jason Kander, Missouri Sec'y of State v. The Honorable Daniel R. Green, Circuit Judge, 462 S.W.3d 844 (Mo. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 4× “” Reeves has alleged that an *850 “unfair process” created the summary statement, and argues that the Secretary’s opinion on the merits of the Petition are relevant because she must prove that the Secretary’s bias caused him to draft an “intentionally argumentative” summary.”
Overfelt v. McCaskill, 81 S.W.3d 732 (Mo. Ct. App. 2002). “Under § 116.334, the Secretary of State is charged with preparing a summary statement of the measure not to exceed one hundred words.”
Archey v. Carnahan, 373 S.W.3d 528 (Mo. Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 3× “Carnahan sent a proposed summary statement for the initiative petition to the Missouri attorney general for review and approval, pursuant to section 116.334. 1 A few days later, the Missouri state auditor’s office sent Carnahan the fiscal note summary approved by the attorney…”
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