The secretary of state must forward certain measures, prepare and send a summary statement to the attorney general in some cases, and the attorney general must approve it within 10 days.
*116.160. Summary statement to be provided by the secretary of state if summary not provided by general assembly — content. — 1. If the general assembly adopts a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment or a bill without a fiscal note summary, which is to be referred to a vote of the people, after receipt of such resolution or bill the secretary of state shall promptly forward the resolution or bill to the state auditor. If the general assembly adopts a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment or a bill without an official summary statement, which is to be referred to a vote of the people, within twenty days after receipt of the resolution or bill, the secretary of state shall prepare and transmit to the attorney general a summary statement of the measure as the proposed summary statement. The secretary of state may seek the advice of the legislator who introduced the constitutional amendment or bill and the speaker of the house or the president pro tem of the legislative chamber that originated the measure. The summary statement may be distinct from the legislative title of the proposed constitutional amendment or bill. The attorney general shall within ten days approve the legal content and form of the proposed statement. 2. If the general assembly adopts a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment or statutory measure that includes an official summary statement, the statement shall appear on the ballot, unless it is challenged pursuant to section 116.190, in which case the provisions of that section shall apply. 3. The official summary statement shall contain no more than one hundred words, excluding articles. The title shall be a true and impartial statement of the purposes of the proposed measure in language neither intentionally argumentative nor likely to create prejudice either for or against the proposed measure. (L. 1980 S.B. 658, A.L. 1983 S.B. 234, A.L. 1985 H.B. 543, A.L. 1997 S.B. 132, A.L. 1999 H.B. 676, 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). (2004) Secretary of state's duty to place matters on a ballot are not finally triggered until receipt of the original document. Nixon v. Blunt, 135 S.W.3d 416 (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).