JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Supreme Court upheld Governor Mike Kehoe’s constitutional authority to call a special legislative session at any time, issuing a unanimous ruling hours after oral arguments in a case brought by the NAACP challenging the September 2025 session. The court found that the Missouri Constitution grants the governor power to convene the General Assembly on “extraordinary occasions” without any limiting language.

The lawsuit, filed by the NAACP of Missouri, contested Kehoe’s call for a special session that began in September 2025 to consider congressional redistricting and changes to initiative petition requirements. Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh had previously ruled against the NAACP in February, prompting the appeal to the state’s highest court.

Attorney Sharon Jones, representing the NAACP, argued that nothing in 2025 met the definition of “extraordinary occasions” justifying a special session. “This is not a political question. It is clearly a matter of constitutional interpretation,” Jones said. She also contended that the legislation passed during the session was neither new nor urgent, noting that Republicans had attempted for at least 16 years to change the initiative petition process without success and that no redistricting bill was introduced during the 2025 regular session. Jones warned that without judicial limits on the governor’s power, “the governor could call the General Assembly into session at any time for no reason.” She added that prior to about 2005, special sessions were reserved for specific circumstances such as disaster relief after the 1993 flood or compliance with new federal laws.

Joe Kiernan of the attorney general’s office countered that the NAACP’s challenge stemmed from political disagreement and constituted a nonjusticiable political question. “What they are not entitled to is to repackage those objections into a case asking this court to rewrite the Missouri Constitution,” Kiernan said. He argued that if the court ruled for the NAACP, elections should still proceed under the new map while lawmakers revised it the following year.

Writing for the court, Judge Mary Russell stated that the Missouri Constitution does not include language suggesting the governor’s discretion to call an extraordinary session is limited in any way. She also noted the constitution does not specify a method for determining whether an occasion is sufficiently unusual to justify a special session.