Gov. Mike Kehoe issues orders to track undocumented migrants, boost trooper pay

JEFFERSON CITY — Task forces to arrest people with outstanding warrants and immigration enforcement training for the state Highway Patrol are among the actions Gov. Mike Kehoe ordered Monday, Jan. 13, as part of a program to combat crime in Missouri.

Kehoe made controlling crime a centerpiece of his campaign for governor, and he signed the executive orders just minutes after taking the oath of office for his four-year term. As he introduced the proposals, he said his package would have two more phases — legislation filed in the General Assembly and proposals he will unveil Tuesday, Jan. 28, when he delivers the annual State of the State address.

Flanked by Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who began his first full term in office Monday, and several top police officials, Kehoe said he wanted to address crime immediately.

“We’ve said for months that we were going to work very hard putting this together,” Kehoe said, “and I just wanted to get some things moving as quickly as we could.”

The six orders signed Monday will:

• Authorize the creation of regional teams to serve outstanding arrest warrants in a program called “Operation Relentless Pursuit”;

• Create a “Blue Shield” community recognition program for cities and counties that work to make law enforcement effective through increased budgets and community policing programs, among other criteria;

• Send selected troopers from the state Highway Patrol to federal immigration enforcement training under the 287-G program established in 1996;

• Require law enforcement to include the immigration status of individuals in arrest reports for inclusion in the statewide reporting system;

• Shorten the period of time for Highway Patrol troopers to reach the top of their pay grade to 12 years from 15 years;

• Require the Department of Corrections to assemble a working group to examine rules for probation and parole to allow offenders with drug or other problems to seek treatment while incarcerating people who are repeat or violent offenders.

Kehoe, citing demands on his time for post-inauguration activities, declined to answer questions about his actions, leaving those duties to Bailey.

The action on outstanding warrants, Bailey said, is intended to bring 17,600 wanted for felonies people into court.

“No longer will we wait until they are caught in a traffic stop, no longer will wait until they appear,” Bailey said. “Now the state will be using its resources to coordinate with the locals to go after these individuals that are fleeing from justice.”

President-elect Donald Trump has promised an immense crackdown on immigration, including deportation of all undocumented people in the U.S. The two orders dealing with immigration would position Missouri “to assist with immigration enforcement when called upon by President Trump’s administration,” Bailey said.

The state experienced 1,300 fentanyl overdose deaths in 2024 and 1,100 cases of human trafficking, which Bailey said are both tied to undocumented immigrants to the state.

“Being at the crossroads of the nation with an extensive interstate system has made us prone to drug and human trafficking,” Bailey said.

The task force on probation and parole issues will look at whether offenders who should not be released are being set free and how to address personal problems that lead to crime, Bailey said.

During 2023, the most recent year with a full report on incarcerated and supervised offenders, Missouri had a prison population of 23,595 and more than 52,000 people on probation or parole.

During the year, the department released 2,644 people on probation and 8,050 on parole. The department received 4,811 people who had their probation revoked and another 4,264 who were returned after violating their parole.

“At the end of the day, we need to make sure we’re paroling the right people that are suitable for rehabilitation and are not a risk for recidivism, and not paroling people so quickly that we are we lose the credibility in the criminal justice system because we have a catch and release policy,” Bailey said.

He declined to predict whether the task force would result in more people behind bars.

“What you would find out as you look at incarceration rates across the state of Missouri, both at the local and state level, is that they’ve plummeted in the past few years,” Bailey said. “It’s not about locking everyone up. It’s about locking up the bad guys.”