Missouri’s 115 local public health agencies (LPHAs) provide key public health functions to Missouri residents, including assessing local health needs and risks, developing policies and planning programs to improve health, and enforcing public health laws and promoting equitable access to basic health care.1 Like all local health departments across the country, Missouri’s LPHAs rely on state-specific legal authority granted via the state constitution, statutes, and regulations to perform these functions.
Access to state-specific legal information is essential for LPHAs to fulfill their responsibilities efficiently and effectively. This toolkit provides four fact sheets designed to aid Missouri LPHAs in better understanding the depth, breadth, and scope of their legal authority and responsibilities, including (1) an overview of formation routes and governance structures for Missouri LPHAs; (2) a summary of local public health legal authority; (3) a review of key court cases affecting local public health legal authority in Missouri; and (4) Frequently Asked Questions for LPHAs.
