JOPLIN, Mo.  – Gov. Jay Nixon said Tuesday he was not opposed to working with lawmakers on legislation to update the state’s criminal code, but was not in favor of a large, comprehensive package.

Senators Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City, and Bob Dixon, R-Springfield, had come to an agreement on a more than 1,100 page bill that would overhaul the state’s criminal code for the first time in more than three decades. Citing the concerns about length (which were also expressed by some wary lawmakers), the two spent spring break cutting out more than 400 pages from the bill – removing a proposed new Class E felony.

With the bill now at about 700 pages, Nixon said he favors reforming the code by passing multiple bills addressing several different pieces of the law – not a large package.

“All I’m asking is that they divide it into manageable pieces,” Nixon said. “Everybody voting on that ought to understand it so we have a good, thorough process – not just the one or two people handling the bill.”

Nixon said he was concerned with the size of the bill and the accompanying room for error, particularly facing the reality that not every member of the General Assembly will likely have or take the time to read the entire package before taking a vote.

“When you try to put a 1,000 page bill or a 700 page bill together, that’s a lot of writing, and when it comes to the criminal code, it really needs to be perfect,” he said. “We’re hopeful to work with them to divide this into some manageable pieces. I’m not saying that we don’t need to move forward and there hasn’t been solid work done in some of these areas.”

Nixon lauded the effort by prosecutors and public defenders, alike, to move forward on the issue, but warned against making compromises on important criminal issues.

“We have a criminal code, it’s not about making a political compromise, it’s about doing the right thing. It is very serious business,” he said.

Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, said on Tuesday that the Senate did not plan to spend anymore time on the issue until Nixon’s office agreed on a “path forward,” the Springfield News-Leader reported.

“What I heard from the governor’s staff is that it is unlikely he would support a criminal code bill of that size,” Dempsey said Monday evening.