Voters to decide elevated status for Missouri National Guard

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri voters will get a chance to decide later this year whether to make the National Guard its own department of state government. The Missouri National Guard currently is part of the Department of Public Safety. The Senate gave final approval Thursday to a proposed constitutional amendment that would remove it from Public Safety and make it a stand-alone agency. That means the adjutant general, who is the head of the National Guard, would be part of the governor’s Cabinet. The House approved the measure last month.