HB 179 Missouri House · 2025 Regular Session

Modifies provisions relating to civil proceedings

HB 179 modifies Missouri's civil and agency proceeding fee rules. It defines "party" to include individuals with net worth under $2 million or small businesses (including partnerships/corporations) with net worth under $7 million and 500 or fewer employees. The bill sets a $75 per hour cap on attorney fees in these cases, unless a court finds special factors justify higher rates, and specifies that expert witness fees must align with state compensation rates. These changes directly affect small entities and individuals filing civil suits or agency proceedings in Missouri. The bill does not alter substantive legal outcomes but changes how fees are calculated and awarded.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Dec 2024

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Dec 2, 2024 Last action Apr 23, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → House Committee Substitute · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill was revised to expand its scope from repealing only one section of law to repealing two sections (477.650 and 536.085) and enacting two new sections. The changes introduce a new 'Basic Civil Legal Services Fund' to increase funding for low-income civil legal services, while also updating eligibility criteria to include unincorporated businesses and partnerships with net worth up to seven million dollars. The revised bill removes an expiration date provision that was present in the original version.

Scope change

The bill now addresses two separate sections of law instead of one, creating a new funding mechanism for civil legal services in addition to updating existing fee and expense provisions.

FISCAL

Created a new 'Basic Civil Legal Services Fund' to be administered by the Missouri Supreme Court, funded by court filing surcharges and other sources to support legal representation for low-income persons.

ELIGIBILITY

Expanded party eligibility to include unincorporated businesses, partnerships, corporations, and organizations with net worth not exceeding seven million dollars, in addition to individuals with net worth not exceeding two million dollars.

TIMELINE

Removed the provision that would have caused the bill's provisions to expire on December 31, 2025, making the funding mechanism permanent.

SCOPE

Changed the bill to repeal and replace two sections of law (477.650 and 536.085) instead of only section 536.085.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 23, 2025

Committee

Referred: Rules - Administrative(H)

lower

Apr 3, 2025

Lower · Passed

HCS Reported Do Pass (H) - AYES: 9 NOES: 0 PRESENT: 0

lower

Apr 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

HCS Voted Do Pass (H)

lower

Mar 13, 2025

Committee

Referred: Judiciary(H)

lower

Dec 2, 2024

Introduced

Prefiled (H)

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors