ADU Pass
Clinton
Johnson County portion
Also in: Henry County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Clinton, Johnson County, Missouri navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 1 ZIP code.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: with-restrictions
This Johnson County cross-listing inherits Clinton's city ordinance (no Johnson County zoning attaches because the parcel is not in Johnson County). Net practical effect tracks the Henry County primary entry.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 150 | $1,450 | $33,000 | $34,450 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,450 | $132,000 | $133,450 |
| midpoint | 525 | $1,450 | $115,500 | $116,950 |
| maximum | 900 | $1,450 | $198,000 | $199,450 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-04)
Permitting process
- Confirm county jurisdiction first (~1d)
Verify on the parcel deed and Henry County GIS that the Clinton-addressed property lies inside the City of Clinton corporate limits in Henry County, not in unincorporated Johnson County. Johnson County does not zone or inspect unincorporated land, so a Johnson-County parcel falls outside both city and county review. - Read Clinton Chapter 36 Article IV (~4d)
Pull the parcel's residential district and accessory-use language from Municode's Clinton Chapter 36 Article IV (zoning); ADU-equivalent uses are reviewed under accessory-use definitions, not a stand-alone ADU article. - Pre-app conversation with Community Development (~7d)
Phone or counter-visit the Clinton Community Development Department (City Planning + Building Permits + Inspections + Code Compliance) to confirm scope and whether a conditional-use permit is required. Typical turn-around for a verbal scope review is one week. - Submit through the City of Clinton Online Community Development Portal (~1d)
Lodge the building-permit application and supporting drawings through Clinton's online portal; pay fees through the City of Clinton Online Payment Site (linked from clintonmo.com Helpful Links). - Building Division plan review (IRC + Missouri amendments) (~25d)
Building Division reviews against IRC with Missouri amendments (no R313 sprinkler mandate). Henry County floodplain coordination invoked when the parcel falls inside a Truman Lake or Tebo Creek FEMA SFHA. - Issuance, footing-to-final inspections (~70d)
Issued permit returned through portal; inspections at footing, framing, rough-in trades, insulation, drywall, final by Clinton Building Inspections. - Certificate of Occupancy (~5d)
Final inspection by the Building Division produces the Certificate of Occupancy; Code Compliance signs off where business-licensing or rental-registration applies.
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental of ADU generally permitted; landlord-tenant law and city rental-registration ordinance apply.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Clinton regulates STRs separately from ADU permitting; check city STR ordinance and any HOA covenants. Johnson County imposes no STR rules on Clinton because the city is not in Johnson County.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental requires home occupation permit or rezoning under Clinton Chapter 36.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted with restrictions on signage and customer traffic.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist studio is a permitted accessory use.
- Agriculture: with-restrictions Limited urban agriculture permitted in residential zones; livestock varies by district. Truman Lake floodplain parcels carry additional restrictions.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy ADU explicitly permitted in single-family zones.
Contacts
Staff: Clinton City Hall switchboard (General municipal services / Community Development routing), Henry County Courthouse (actual county of jurisdiction) (County Recorder / Assessor coordination), Johnson County, MO Planning and Zoning (informational only) (Confirms no countywide zoning outside Whiteman AFB; does not review Clinton city-limit ADUs)
Utilities
- Water: City of Clinton Water Utility · 30d connect · $4,500
- Sewer: City of Clinton Sewer / Wastewater Treatment · 30d connect · $5,500
- Electric: Clinton Municipal Electric Department · 21d connect · $1,800
- Gas: Spire (Missouri Gas Energy successor) - regional natural gas · 30d connect · $1,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 10mo · worst 16mo
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Missouri has no HOA-ADU preemption; HOA covenants restricting ADUs are enforceable. HOA prevalence in Clinton city is moderate-low; Truman Lake subdivisions push the city-wide share up.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Clinton, MO Code of Ordinances Chapter 36 (Planning and Zoning), Article IV (city) - Henry County is the actual county of jurisdiction, adopted 1976-01-01, last amended 2024-04-01
- 1976-01-01 — Clinton Code of Ordinances Chapter 36 (Planning and Zoning), Article IV (city-ordinance)
Clinton's zoning regulations have been codified as Chapter 36 Article IV since the city's mid-century adoption of municipal zoning; accessory uses including dwelling-unit conversions are reviewed here rather than through a separate ADU article.
Effect: Set the framework that any ADU-equivalent (carriage house, mother-in-law unit, garage apartment) must satisfy under accessory-use definitions inside Clinton city limits. - 2018-01-01 — Adoption of IRC / IBC base codes by Clinton Building Division (city-ordinance)
Clinton Community Development / Building Division adopted current ICC family with Missouri amendments removing the IRC R313 sprinkler mandate.
Effect: Building permits for new dwelling units on single-family lots review against IRC; sprinklers not required under Missouri amendments. - 2023-06-01 — Online Community Development Portal launch (city-ordinance)
Clinton Community Development moved building-permit and business-license intake to an online portal with online-payment integration.
Effect: Reduced paper filings; ADU-equivalent permits now submitted through the portal alongside one- and two-family applications. - 2024-01-01 — Johnson County, MO confirms no countywide zoning for ADU entitlement (other)
Johnson County Planning and Zoning page reiterates the county does not regulate land use, building codes, or occupancy in unincorporated areas (Whiteman AFB area excepted).
Effect: Confirms that any ADU sitting in Johnson County would face no county-level review; in any event the city of Clinton itself sits in Henry County, so this cross-listing inherits only municipal rules.
Known issues (1)
- data-quality (since indefinite) — Some address-classification systems list Clinton, MO under Johnson County. Clinton, MO is the county seat of Henry County; Johnson County (seat: Warrensburg) does not contain the city. Use the Henry County entry for the authoritative profile. (source)
Missouri state — ADU law and programs
State financing programs
Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC), the state housing finance agency under the Department of Economic Development, does not operate an ADU-specific loan or grant product as of 2026-04-26. Construction or rehab of an ADU on a primary residence may be financed indirectly through MHDC's First Place Program (first-time-homebuyer mortgage with below-market rate) or Next Step Program (mortgage paired with a forgivable second of up to 4% of loan amount). Both are mortgage-purchase products and require the property to be the borrower's primary residence; an existing ADU on the property is permitted under standard agency guidelines. MHDC also administers Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, the Affordable Housing Assistance Program (AHAP) tax credit, and federal HOME funds — none of which is a homeowner-facing ADU instrument.
Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs
Federal ADU law
The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.
Federal financing programs
Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.
Federal tax credits
There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.
Federal housing programs
HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.
ZIP Code
- 64733
Post Office
- 101 S 2nd St, 64735