This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Senate is backing an effort that would make it harder to impeach and remove top officials, less than a year after the governor resigned while facing potential impeachment.

The proposed constitutional amendment would abolish the grounds for which House members had been weighing whether to impeach former Republican Gov. Eric Greitens.

It would limit the criteria to “corruption and crime in office.” Had that been in place last year, House members could not have pursued impeachment for allegations of sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations that occurred before Greitens took office in January 2017. Greitens resigned June 1, before a House investigatory committee could vote on impeachment.

The measure, which already has received initial Senate approval, needs another vote to go to the House.