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LDS Church unloading even more Missouri land. What’s up in this former and future Zion?

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LDS Church unloading even more Missouri land. What’s up in this former and future Zion?


For the second time in less than a month, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has put a large chunk of prime real estate up for sale in Missouri, a state of great historical and, many members believe, future significance for the Utah-based faith.

The latest listing includes 533 acres of vacant land in a fast-growing Kansas City suburb, according to the listing agent, which describes it as a multibillion-dollar development spread across 18 individual tracts in Clay County.

The posting comes mere weeks after news spread of the church putting more than 1,800 acres up for grabs in Lee’s Summit, a city of 103,000 straddling Jackson and Cass counties. Municipal officials applauded that decision to sell the property, according to Kansas City’s WDAF-TV. saying the wildland will serve as a shot of adrenaline to the economy upon development.

The combined nearly 3,000 acres from the two listings represent a small fraction of the church’s real estate portfolio in Missouri, however, including in Lee’s Summit.

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Even so, the news is likely to raise eyebrows among Latter-day Saint faithful who believe God will one day call on members to return to Jackson County in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus.

Why sell and why now?

A spokesperson for Property Reserve, a principal real estate arm of the church, cited “market opportunities” and a “look to the long term” as the main drivers behind the latest listings.

“In selling land we own in the greater Kansas City area,” communications director Dale Bills said, “we are responding to both local government planning, as well as interest from developers in the market.”

He continued: “For example, we have worked closely with officials in Lee’s Summit since 2019 to ensure that development of Property Reserve land there proceeds in alignment with city plans for healthy community growth, including providing essential services such as utilities, school transportation and public safety.”

David Slater, executive director of the Clay County Economic Development Council, said he is “excited” to work with the church’s real estate officials in developing the parcels in the Kansas City area.

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“The tracts of land at the intersection of Highway 152 and Interstate 435,” Slater wrote in an email, “can be a game changer for the entire metro [area].”

What the church owns in Missouri

(Image courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Church founder Joseph Smith envisioned a Zion emerging in Independence, Mo.

Property records reveal extensive Missouri landholdings by the church, much of it located near sites tied to the faith’s history.

A 2019 pre-pandemic snapshot showed nearly 22,571 acres owned in the Midwestern state by the church or its land management affiliates such as Property Reserve, Suburban Land Reserve and Farmland Reserve.

Almost 60% of that land falls within five western Missouri counties centered around Independence, Lee’s Summit and Liberty as well as in the state’s two largest cities, Kansas City and St. Louis, which is located in eastern Missouri.

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That same data shows the church’s holdings statewide were worth about $69 million in total market value in 2019, though nearly $42 million was pegged to religious properties.

The records — drawn from a database obtained in 2020 and released two years later by the Truth & Transparency Foundation (formerly known as MormonLeaks) and published in The Salt Lake Tribune — detail a nearly 16,000-parcel collection of 1.7 million acres held by identified church firms.

Its biggest tracts in Missouri, perhaps not surprisingly, are in Jackson County on the Kansas border, with Independence as its county seat. The faith has more than 10,000 acres countywide, with 5,920 acres held in and around Independence’s city limits.

Second is the nearly 6,400 acres in Clay County, site of the city of Liberty and its jail, where church founder Joseph Smith was held at one point.

Records show nearly 20,000 acres of church land in Missouri is agricultural, with notably large contiguous parcels of farmland northwest of Independence along the Missouri River.

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Missouri, a past and future Zion

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Partial reconstruction of the Liberty Jail in Missouri, where the faith’s founder, Joseph Smith, was held for more than four months. The church is selling more than 1,800 acres in nearby Lee’s Summit and another 500-plus acres in the Kansas City area.

For most Americans, Missouri represents the epitome of flyover country. Even its most recognizable feature, the iconic Gateway Arch, reveals a self-awareness that its role in the story of the United States has always been a supporting one — a launching pad for those seeking the glittering, gold-filled West.

Not so for Latter-day Saints. All around the world, believers recount the revelations and struggles their spiritual foremothers and forefathers experienced during their brief and fraught stay there in the 1830s. First in Jackson and later in Clay, Caldwell and Daviess counties, the fledgling faith tried and failed to gain a foothold, its ambitions of creating a Zion community constantly crashing against the distrust of wary locals.

The group eventually bowed out of the Show Me State — but not, they believed, for good. In an 1831 revelation still read by Latter-day Saints, God promised church founder Joseph Smith that one day the righteous would be instructed to gather once more in Jackson County and, in particular, Independence, where together they would weather the turbulent last days before Jesus’ return.

R. Jean Addams, an independent scholar who has published extensively on the role of Missouri in the Latter-day Saint tradition, said Jackson County “is sacrosanct” for members. True, top church leaders have largely abandoned the topic of a literal gathering in Missouri in their public addresses (former apostle Marion G. Romney may have been the last to do so explicitly in General Conference, which he did in 1966). Nevertheless, Addams said it very much remains “a tenet of the church … even if it’s not talked about.”

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Visit Sunday services at any Latter-day Saint congregation in the area and the region’s outsized role in the faith becomes obvious, Addams said. Meeting attendance has swelled there through the years he has returned, with newcomers coming from as far as Tonga and Samoa.

“They want to be there,” he said, “when it’s all wrapped up.”

The church has temples in Kansas City and St. Louis, with plans for a third, in Springfield. But many members are awaiting that long-promised temple in Independence, where Joseph Smith dedicated a site to greet the returning Lord.

Editor’s note • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.



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Missouri

Advocacy groups and Missouri mayors speak out against underage gun possession

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Advocacy groups and Missouri mayors speak out against underage gun possession


The mayors of the four largest cities in Missouri, signed a letter addressed to governor-elect Mike Kehoe, asking him to take a concrete step to protect minors against the dangers of firearms.


COLUMBIA — The mayors of the four largest cities in Missouri signed a letter addressed to Gov.-elect Mike Kehoe asking him to take a concrete step to protect minors against the dangers of firearms. 

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Kehoe won’t be sworn in until Jan. 13, 2025, but leaders from around the state are already speaking out about what could change in their communities. 

The letter, dated Nov. 15, was signed by Springfield Mayor Ken McClure, with co-signatures from Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones. 

Buffaloe told KOMU 8 that she wants her signature to let “the governor-elect know the mayors of the four largest cities are ready to collaborate on some of his public safety initiatives.”

The current Missouri constitution does not set a minimum age to possess a firearm, and Buffaloe said she thinks in this case, Missouri’s law should match the federal law.

One advocacy group told KOMU 8 that it has made its mission to end gun violence. Kristin Bowen, a Columbia-based volunteer of Mom’s Demand Action, said she feels personally drawn to the issue because of her kids.

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“It’s personal for me,” Bowen said. “Our kids have been trained since kindergarten on how to handle themselves in an active shooter situation, it makes me angry that we put so much on our teachers and our kids and our schools to protect our kids.”

From 2023 to 2024, both victims and offenders of firearm related crimes from the ages of 10 to 17 years old increased, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The number of victims increased from 37 to 51, and the number of offenders increased from 44 to 54. 

Bowen said her organization’s message gets lost at times, and is labeled with an “anti-gun” position. To her, Mom’s Demand Action is actually pro-gun ownership.

“We support the second amendment and the right for private citizens to keep and bear arms,” Bowen said. “It’s a misconception that we oppose the second amendment, that I think is a distraction from the real issue.” 

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Bowen wants to see real solutions and progress, and hopes that with a new administration, this issue will be less politicized.

“I wish that we could at this moment — where we’ve got new administrations coming in to office — step away from this as a political issue,” Bowen said. “And take seriously what works.”



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Missouri Attorney General plans to sue Jackson County over youth gun ban ordinance

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Missouri Attorney General plans to sue Jackson County over youth gun ban ordinance


KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced his office will file a lawsuit against Jackson County over a gun ordinance recently passed by the county’s legislature.

The ordinance, introduced by Jackson County Legislator Manny Abarca, prevents 18- to 21-year-olds from buying pistols or semiautomatic rifles.

“I will be filing suit against Jackson County for their illegal attempt to violate Missourians’ right to keep and bear arms,” Bailey posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

Bailey’s office also ordered the county to preserve all records and communications from the legislature related to the measure.

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The ordinance was opposed and even vetoed by County Executive Frank White, Jr., who warned the legislature it could open the county to legal battles like the one Bailey threatened.

Still, the legislature voted to overturn his White’s veto, a move he called “disappointing.”

White released a statement on Bailey’s intent to sue the county, saying he wasn’t surprised.

“This announcement comes as no surprise. From the start, I made it clear that this ordinance violated Missouri law,” White said in part in a statement. “While I strongly disagree with the state’s preemption of local gun regulations — because I believe communities should have the ability to protect themselves—ignoring the law doesn’t lead to progress. It leads to predictable legal challenges and wasted resources, and unfortunately, this ordinance will do more harm to gun safety advocacy than doing nothing at all.”

On Tuesday, White said his office was receiving concerns about the ordinance and called on the legislature to amend the measure to add protections for young hunters at a Wednesday meeting.

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Abarca and other legislators subsequently skipped the meeting to protest an ongoing disagreement on how to allocate over $70 million in ARPA funding.





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Nonprofit drops $150K into PAC supporting lame-duck Missouri governor • Missouri Independent

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Nonprofit drops 0K into PAC supporting lame-duck Missouri governor • Missouri Independent


The not-for-profit group originally set up to pay for Gov. Mike Parson’s 2021 inauguration gave $150,000 this week to the political action committee that helped get him elected.

Parson is leaving office due to term limits and has said repeatedly that he does not intend to be a candidate for public office again. 

The PAC, Uniting Missouri, received the donation on Monday from Moving Missouri Forward Inc., which also paid the expenses to write and publish a biography of Parson called “No Turnin’ Back” that the governor has promoted extensively since its publication in February.

The origin of the $150,000 is unclear, since Moving Missouri Forward is not required to disclose its donors. But none of the money donated Monday was generated by sales of the Parson book, attorney Marc Ellinger said in an interview with The Independent. A different not-for-profit called Moving Missouri Forward Foundation receives all proceeds from book sales, he said, and is headed by First Lady Teresa Parson as president and Claudia Kehoe, wife Gov.-elect Mike Kehoe, as vice president.

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“It paid for the book and contributed the entire cost of it and everything to the foundation as a charitable contribution, so that the foundation would have an ability to raise money through the book,” Ellinger said.

Ellinger is the registered agent for both Moving Missouri Forward Inc. and Moving Missouri Forward Foundation.

Uniting Missouri PAC had about $93,000 on hand at the end of October. Reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission show it raised about $1.3 million since the start of 2023 and spent about $775,000 this year helping two officeholders Parson appointed, Kehoe and Attorney General Andrew Bailey, win hotly contested Republican primaries.

Uniting Missouri has also spent about $120,000 for Parson’s trips to watch the Kansas City Chiefs win the two most recent Super Bowls.

Tom Burcham — a former Republican state lawmaker from Farmington with close ties to Parson’s longtime friend and fundraiser, lobbyist Steve Tilley — is in charge of Uniting Missouri. It is unclear why the PAC needs to keep raising money to support a candidate who is no longer running for public office, and Burcham did not respond to a request for comment. 

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Burcham is also the registered agent for a not-for-profit created in September called 57 Foundation Inc., in reference to Parson’s position as the 57th governor of the state. The nonprofit held a fundraiser Nov. 14 in Kansas City where donors paid as much as $10,000 for a table and pre-event reception with the Parsons.

The purpose of 57 Foundation, according to its incorporation papers, includes “providing essential resources and support to needful and vulnerable Missourians who cannot adequately help themselves. The foundation’s activities are inspired by and aligned with the legacy of public service and contributions of Missouri’s 57th Governor, Michael L. Parson.”

The Moving Missouri Forward Inc. donation to Uniting Missouri is roughly equal to the remaining funds raised on behalf of Parson, Ellinger said.

It will now transition to become a vehicle for funding Kehoe’s inauguration, he said. 

Soon after Parson’s 2021 inauguration, Moving Missouri Forward Inc. released a list of donors who contributed $500 or more to the $369,115 raised for the festivities. The list did not include the specific amounts donated.

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As a not-for-profit 501(c)(4) entity, it is not required to reveal its donors. It is required to file a statement of revenues and expenses annually with the IRS. The most recent report, filed in November 2023 and covering 2022, shows $3,000 in contributions in 2022 and $40,563 in cash on hand at the end of the year. 

The filing also showed a $25,000 contribution to the Moving Missouri Forward Foundation. The foundation is a 501(c)(3) entity and contributions are tax deductible.

The purpose of the Moving Missouri Forward Foundation, according to its creation filing, is to “aid, assist, or help Missouri’s children, including but not limited to Jobs for America’s Graduates-Missouri and children with autism and special needs.”

Mike and Teresa Parson have been co-chairs of Jobs for America’s Graduates-Missouri since 2016, when he was elected lieutenant governor.

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