What did the Missouri Attorney General decide about James Owen's renewable energy initiative petition (version 3) when reviewed for form in January 2020?
Plain-English summary
James Owen filed three versions of a citizen-initiated proposal in early 2020 to amend Chapter 393 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri (the chapter governing investor-owned electric utilities). Owen's package would have raised Missouri's renewable portfolio standard, restructured the solar credit program, and tightened the rules on use of renewable energy credits. The Secretary of State sent each version to the Attorney General for "form" review under § 116.332, RSMo, the gatekeeper review that checks compliance with format and drafting rules before circulation.
Opinion 3-2020 approves the form of Owen's version 3 (2020-144). It tracks the same template as Opinion 2-2020 (form approval of version 2). The AG's review was narrow: comply with §§ 116.040 and 116.050, RSMo, and the petition passes form review. The Secretary of State retained the final word on form rejection.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 2020. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
Background and statutory framework
Missouri's initiative process is laid out in Chapter 116 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri. The process moves a citizen-drafted proposal through several procedural stops before it reaches voters:
- Filing with the Secretary of State. Proponent submits the petition with the proposed amendment text.
- Form review by the AG (§ 116.332). Quick check for compliance with formatting rules in §§ 116.040 (cover sheet/signature page format) and 116.050 (deletions in brackets, additions underlined).
- Summary statement by the Secretary of State. The plain-English summary that will appear on petition pages and the ballot.
- AG review of the summary statement (§ 116.334).
- Fiscal note preparation by the State Auditor and AG legal review (§ 116.175).
- Signature collection.
- Vote.
This opinion covers stop #2 for one of three sister versions of the same proposal. For the same proposal, the AG also issued:
- 8-2020, 9-2020, 10-2020, fiscal note approvals for versions 1, 2, and 3 (Feb. 6, 2020).
- 11-2020, 12-2020, 13-2020, summary statement approvals for versions 1, 2, and 3 (Feb. 18, 2020).
Why three versions? Initiative proponents commonly file slightly different drafts simultaneously to hedge against form-review rejections, so they have a backup if one version is bounced. Owen's three versions all passed form review and continued through the process.
Common questions
What's the difference between version 2 (2-2020) and version 3 (3-2020)?
Both opinions are functionally identical AG approvals of the petition's form. The substantive differences between Owen's versions live in the petition text the Secretary of State holds, not in the AG opinions.
Did the AG say anything about the renewable energy proposal's merits?
No. The opinion contains the standard recital that AG review is statutorily mandated and not an endorsement.
Where do I find the actual petition text?
The Secretary of State's office maintains records of filed initiative petitions, indexed by tracking number (here, 2020-144). The AG opinion does not include the petition text.
Citations
- § 116.332, RSMo (sufficiency-as-to-form review)
- § 116.040, RSMo (petition format)
- § 116.050, RSMo (text-marking rules)
Source
- Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
- Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/3-2020.pdf?sfvrsn=2
Original opinion text
Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
Eric SCHMITT
January 16, 2020
OPINION LETTER NO. 3-2020
The Honorable John R. Ashcroft
Missouri Secretary of State
James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center
600 West Main Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Dear Secretary Ashcroft:
This opinion letter responds to your request dated January 6, 2020, for our review under § 116.332, RSMo, of the sufficiency as to form of an initiative petition to amend Chapter 393, Revised Statutes of Missouri, submitted by James Owen, version 3 (2020-144).
We approve the petition as to form, but § 116.332 gives the Secretary of State final authority to approve or reject the petition. Therefore, our approval of the form of the petition does not preclude you from rejecting the petition.
Because our review of the petition is simply for the purpose of determining sufficiency as to form, the fact that we do not reject the petition is not to be construed as a determination that the petition is sufficient as to substance. Likewise, because our review is mandated by statute, no action that we take with respect to such review should be construed as an endorsement of the petition or of the objectives of its proponents, or the expression of any view respecting the adequacy or inadequacy of the petition generally.
Very truly yours,
ERIC S. SCHMITT
Attorney General
Supreme Court Building
207 W. High Street
P.O. Box 899
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Phone: (573) 751-3321
Fax: (573) 751-0774
www.ago.mo.gov
OP-2020-0003