Section 11 Affecting Private Rights

• Library: Administrative Law 2011

The guarantee contained in Article V, § 18, of the Missouri Constitution that administrative actions that “affect private rights” are reviewable by the courts establishes the type of interest necessary for a party to have constitutional standing to obtain state judicial review of final administrative decisions. The Supreme Court of Missouri has broadly construed the constitutional phrase “private rights.” Thus, in Hill v. State Department of Public Health & Welfare,503 S.W.2d 6, 10–11 (Mo. banc 1973), the Supreme Court recognized that “welfare benefits are in the nature of property...