How does government work in Missouri?

What may surprise you here

• Missouri’s governor appoints Supreme Court and appeals court judges, and voters then decide whether to retain them every 12 years. source
• Governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer and attorney general are all elected in presidential election years. source
• The City of St. Louis is both a city and a county, so Missouri has 114 counties plus St. Louis. source

Legislature

Name

General Assembly source

Senate: seats

34 source

Senate: term in years

4 source

House of Representatives: seats

163 source

House of Representatives: term in years

2 source

Term limits

8 years in each chamber, a lifetime limit source

Governor and statewide offices

Term in years

4 source

Term limit

Cannot be elected governor more than twice source

Next regular election

2028 source

Lieutenant governor

separate election source

Attorney general

elected source

Attorney general’s term in years

4 source

Secretary of state

elected source

Secretary of state’s term in years

4 source

Courts

Highest court

Supreme Court of Missouri source

Intermediate appeals court

Missouri Court of Appeals source

Main trial court

Circuit Court source

How high-court judges reach the bench

mixed: governor appoints Supreme Court and appeals judges, and voters decide on retention every 12 years source

Local government

Called

county source

How many

114 source

Cities and towns

The City of St. Louis is recognized as both a city and a county. source

Schools

The Census Bureau counts 529 independent school district governments in Missouri. source

Elections

Chief election official

Secretary of State source

Who runs elections locally

Local election authorities: an elected county clerk or a bipartisan board of election commissioners source

Primary type

open source

Regular governor elections fall in

even source

Citizen initiatives

yes source

Who holds these offices

As of November 5, 2026. Terms of the current Congress run to January 3, 2027. Winners of the November 3, 2026 elections are not shown until results are certified and they take office.

Governor: Mike Kehoe RRepublican, in office since January 13, 2025. source

Who has held each Senate seat since 2001

Each band is one person in the seat. The line marks November 2026; anything to its right is the rest of a current term. Dates through 2026 come from the congress-legislators public dataset, whose current members are matched against the Senate’s own roster on every build.

Sources