Enactment of Senate Bill 608 Affords Missouri Businesses Greater Protection

Governor Parson has signed Senate Bill 608, which enacts three new sections relating to civil liability due to criminal conduct. The Bill affords Missouri business owners greater protection against liability for criminal conduct that occurs on their property. 

Senate Bill 608 repealed part of Section 537.349, RSMo, which provided that a person or business owner could not be found liable for the injury or death of a trespasser if the trespasser is substantially impaired by alcohol or an illegal controlled substance, unless the person or business owner acted with negligence or willful and wanton conduct. Under the revised law, negligence is no longer a basis for liability. Now, a person or business owner may only be liable if their willful and wanton misconduct was the proximate cause of the injury or death of the substantially impaired trespasser.

Senate Bill 608 also creates what is referred to as “The Business Premises Act”, which is comprised of Sections 537.785 and 537.787, RSMo. The Act creates safeguards to businesses for third-party crimes out of the business’s control. It provides that there is no duty to guard against unpreventable criminal and harmful acts of third parties that occur on the business premises unless the business knows or has reason to know that such acts are being committed or are reasonably likely to be committed. The Act codifies three affirmative defenses available to a premises owner, should a duty be found to exist under the Act. The business will not be liable:

1. if the business has implemented reasonable security measures;
2. the claimant was on the premises and was a trespasser, attempting to commit a felony, or engaged in the commission of a felony; or
3. the criminal acts or harmful acts occurred while the business was closed to the public.  

The Act also provides that evidence of subsequent action taken by a business to provide protection to persons shall not be admissible in evidence to show negligence or to establish feasibility of the security measure.  This is consistent with a wide body of Missouri law on subsequent remedial measures. In addition, the Act expressly states that all immunities and defenses to liability available to a business under Missouri law are unaffected, and it shall not be construed to create of increase the liability of a business.  

The safeguards created by Section 537.349, RSMo and the Act provide clarification of the duty of businesses when third-party crimes occur on business premises and the applicable affirmative defenses, neither of which was clear under Missouri case law. We will closely follow the body of case law that develops around this statutory framework, and are optimistic that the intent of Senate Bill 608 will be realized.

The full text of SB 608, and the cited statutory provisions may be found here.