|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BFMG) — Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe has signed a new law that will require many drunk drivers convicted of killing a child’s parent to pay ongoing child support to the victim’s surviving children.
Kehoe on Thursday approved Missouri House Bill 1740, known as “Bentley’s Law,” which directs courts to order child maintenance payments when a person is found guilty of an intoxicated driving crash that results in the death of a parent. The support would be paid to the surviving spouse or legal guardian responsible for raising the child or children.
Under the law, payments must be processed through a circuit clerk’s office or a designated family support payment center. Child maintenance is set to begin no later than one year after the offender is released from prison.
In most cases, support payments will continue until the child turns 18, or until 21 if the child is pursuing post‑secondary education or has a qualifying disability. The obligation ends if the child dies, marries or enters active military service.
Courts will determine payment amounts using guidelines similar to those in Missouri divorce and custody cases. Judges are instructed to consider the financial resources of the surviving caregiver, the child’s health and education needs, custody arrangements and the standard of living the child would have had if the parent had not been killed.
“Public safety will always be this administration’s top priority,” Kehoe said in a news release announcing his signature on HB 1740 and 21 other bills. He said the new measures “strengthen the laws that protect our families, support the men and women who serve our country and communities, and give our state stronger tools to keep dangerous criminals off our streets.”
The legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Dave Griffith, R‑Cole County, also stiffens criminal penalties in deadly DWI cases, requiring at least five years in prison for most intoxicated‑driving convictions linked to a death and 10 years without probation or parole for certain repeat offenders.
Supporters say Bentley’s Law will increase accountability for impaired drivers and help provide financial stability for children who lose a parent in a DWI crash. Critics have raised questions about enforcement and whether meaningful child support can be collected from offenders who lack income or assets.
The law is scheduled to take effect in Missouri on Aug. 28, 2026.
