JEFFERSON CITY — House Republicans gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a bill that would allow peace officer license applications to be denied if the applicant is a noncitizen.

Peace officers include police officers, sheriffs, deputy sheriffs and some members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The sponsor of HB 1866, Rep. Lane Roberts, R-Joplin, said the bill also would allow the denial of officers who had their license revoked in other states.

“We are all aware of bad actors who hop from department to department; they also do it from state to state. Those are the kind of people we do not want enforcing the law in the state of Missouri,” Roberts said.

While support for this component of the bill stretched across the aisle, many House Democrats took issue with the ability to deny applications based purely on citizenship status.

Democrats attempted to amend the bill to allow permanent residents who have been honorably discharged from the United States Armed Forces to serve as peace officers.

Sponsor of the amendment, Rep. Will Jobe, D-Independence, said he believes permanent residents who have honorably served in the military should be allowed to serve in law enforcement.

“I myself served with men and women that were not citizens of our country, but that had, just like me, stood up and raised their right hand and put their lives at risk in defense of our country and our constitution,” Jobe said.

Roberts spoke against the amendment, citing the special permissions granted by citizenship.

“I also served with people who were permanent residents, and they served honorably in our military. I both appreciate and admire them,” Roberts said. “Somebody who is a citizen of this country should not be deprived of their basic right of freedom by somebody who is not a citizen themselves.”

Rep. Marlon Anderson, D-St. Louis, spoke in favor of the amendment and against the bill. He said the bill would drive away qualified individuals during a shortage of police officers, and said he thinks permanent residents should be allowed to serve.

“Permanent residents, if they can fight for this country, if they can go over and lay their lives on the land, they should be able to arrest people and stop crime,” Anderson said.

Jobe ended the amendment discussion by recounting his own service.

“I can tell you that whenever I was sitting in a foxhole, when I was looking behind me, to see who was covering my back, their citizenship card is not something I was checking,” Jobe said.

Jobe’s amendment failed on a 52-95 vote. The bill was given a preliminary pass shortly after.