missouri-national-guard-becomes-its-own-state-department-this-month-heres-what-that-means

The establishment of the new department comes after nearly 50 years of the Missouri National Guard being part of the Department of Public Safety.
In 1974, an act consolidating Missouri’s departments moved the Missouri National Guard from being its own agency to one within the Department of Public Safety.

Now, almost 50 years later, the Missouri National Guard will once again be its own Cabinet-level department of state government. The organizational change is to take effect this month. It will increase the number of state departments to 16.

The reorganization is due to a constitutional amendment that voters passed in the November election. Around 60% of voters approved of the amendment that established the department.

Rep. Bill Hardwick, R-Waynesville, was one of the lawmakers who worked on the resolution that brought the question to voters. He said this was something the Guard has wanted to accomplish for years.