Local Government Law
SCS HCS HB 977 — Election of Municipal Officers. Allows fourth class cities with a population of 1,000 or less to elect aldermen at-large instead of dividing the city into wards. (Signed 6/9/06)
HB 984 — Display of the POW/MIA Flag. (See Military/Veterans Law)
HCS HB 1138 — Police Military Leave. Allows members of the Police Retirement System of Kansas City to receive service credit for time spent in military service during a war. Members are not required to pay member contributions for this service time. (Signed 6/21/06)
SCS#2 HCS HB 1149 — Regulation of Water. (See Environmental/Energy Law)
HB 1204 — Duties of Jailers. (See Criminal Law)
HB 1222 — Special Deputy Coroners. (See Health/Hospital Law)
HCS HB 1343 — Circuit Court Facilities in Lewis County. (See Judicial Administration)
HCS HB 1344 — Firemen's Retirement System of St. Louis. Expands the investment options of the Firemen's Retirement System of St. Louis by allowing the board of trustees to invest in property of any kind, real or personal.
The bill contains an emergency clause. (Signed 6/12/06)
SCS HCS HB 1380 — Missouri Public-Private Partnerships Transportation Act. Establishes the Missouri Public-Private Partnerships Transportation Act and authorizes the Highways and Transportation Commission to form a public-private partnership to use private sector innovation and investments to build a new Mississippi River bridge in St. Louis.
Also contains language dealing with methods for collecting and enforcing user fees and tolls, tort liability caps, disadvantaged business enterprise participation plan requirements for a private partner, material defaults, and the commission's submission of the status report of any comprehensive agreement to the Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight, Governor, and General Assembly. (Signed 6/30/06)
HB 1488 — Memorial Highway. Designates the portion of Interstate 55 in St. Louis County between Butler Hill Road and Meramec Bottom Road as the "Officer Thomas G. Smith Jr. Memorial Highway."
(Signed 6/29/06)
HB 1688 — Economic Activity Tax Revenues. (See Taxation Law)
HCS#2 HB 1703 — Insurance Pooling. (See Insurance Law)
SCS HB 1707 — Local Officials. Currently, the Recorder of Deeds for Jackson County must have a Kansas City office in which to record all instruments affecting property within a certain area. This bill allows those instruments to be recorded at the county seat in Independence.
Also allows the State Registrar within the Department of Health and Senior Services to appoint a person employed by a city health agency as a local registrar.
(Signed 6/29/06)
CCS SS HCS HB 1900 — Ethics. (See State Government Law)
SB 559 — Joint Municipal Utility Commissions. Clarifies the definition of "person" as it relates to §§ 393.700 - 393.770, RSMo, to mean a specified type of entity created under the laws of any state or the United States. (Signed 6/9/06)
SB 561 — Excursion Gambling Boat Admission Fee Revenue. (See Sports/Entertainment Law)
HCS SS#2 SCS SB 583 — Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program. (See Environmental/Energy Law)
SB 645 — Business Use Incentives for Large-Scale Development. Expands the definition of "essential industry" to include certain businesses in the City of Fenton. Currently, only certain businesses in the City of Hazelwood are given this designation.
Qualifications to be deemed an essential industry are specified. (Signed 6/12/06)
SCS SB 751 — Public School Property. (See Property Law)
HCS SCS SB 769 — Fiscal and Other Authorizations for Certain School Districts. (See Education/School Law)
SCS SB 802 — Sewer Districts. Defines "owner," "registered voters," and "voters" as the terms relate to the laws governing sewer districts in counties of the second classification.
The bill contains an emergency clause. (Signed 5/19/06)
HCS SB 809 — Municipal Zoning. Allows cities, towns, and villages to adopt by reference the zoning regulations of the county instead of adopting their own municipal regulations through the passage of an ordinance. (Signed 6/9/06)
SCS SB 830 — Police Military Leave. (See Military/Veterans Law)
SB 863 — Volunteer Fire Protection Associations. Expands the definition of “volunteer fire protection association” to include municipal fire departments staffed by volunteers. (Signed 6/9/06)
SB 871 — Police Retirement System of St. Louis. Changes the laws regarding the distribution of benefits for the Police Retirement System of St. Louis. (Signed 6/29/06)
HCS SS SCS SB 872, 754 & 669 — Safe Operation of Motor Vehicles. (See Motor Vehicle Law)
SB 881 — Conveyance in St. Francois County. (See Property Law)
HCS SB 893 — Fire Protection District Taxes. (See Taxation Law)
CCS HCS SS SCS SB 894 — Education. (See Education/School Law)
SB 919 — Concealed Weapons and Vagrant Labor. Removes the provision allowing the city council of any third class city to prohibit the carrying of concealed weapons.
The use of vagrants found within the city for labor is also removed. (Signed 6/12/06)
CCS#2 HCS SCS SB 932 — County Officials. Changes the laws regarding political subdivisions. In its main provisions, the bill:
(1) Allows a county commission to reject the transfer of title of real property to the county by donation or dedication if it is in the best interest of the county to do so. The preparer of a document donating or dedicating real property to a county cannot submit the document for recording unless the grantee’s acceptance is proved or acknowledged;
(2) Establishes the salary schedule for public administrators in second, third, and fourth classification counties who choose to be paid by salary and who are considered full-time county officials as the base schedule for those officials, unless the current salary is lower than the compensation in the schedule;
(3) Authorizes the salary commission in Cape Girardeau County to meet to determine whether to equalize the base salaries of the treasurer and public administrator with the base salaries of the auditor and recorder of deeds;
(4) Requires all charter counties to mail property tax statements and receipts to taxpayers at least 30 days before being due. Currently, statements are required to be mailed at least 15 days before the due date;
(5) Adds new requirements for candidates seeking the office of county treasurer;
(6) Allows sensitive personal identifying information contained in recordable documents to be redacted or removed by the preparer of the document or the recorder of deeds;
(7) Allows county commissions, at their discretion, to open a county road and conclusively establishes the status as a public road of any county road for which the county has received county aid road trust funds for at least five years after January 1, 1990. The county highway engineer is no longer required to examine and approve a road or road change before the county commission takes action on the road; and
(8) Makes any term or provision in a contract unenforceable if it requires a public administrator who is acting as a guardian to personally pay or guarantee the debt of a ward or protectee. (Signed 6/14/06)
SB 936 — County Library Districts. Increases the bonding limits for county library districts from 1% to 5% of the value of taxable, tangible property within the district. (Signed 6/12/06)
HCS SB 1002 — Drainage Districts. Authorizes drainage district boards to impose an annual processing fee for assessed tracts when the board determines that the costs of preparing and processing the district’s maintenance tax statement exceed the amount of taxes imposed. The fee will be set by the board at the district's annual maintenance tax hearing. (Signed 7/10/06)
CCS#2 HCS SS#2 SCS SB 1014 & 730 — Elections. Establishes the Missouri Voter Protection Act which changes the laws regarding elections. In its main provisions, the bill:
(1) Specifies that for elections held on or before November 1, 2008, all eligible voters may cast a provisional ballot if they fail to meet the requirements for documentation or photographic identification that are required to cast a regular ballot if they sign an affidavit and provide any state-issued identification, voter identification cards, any identification issued by the United States, educational institution identification, non-Missouri driver's license, or other specified types of bills and documents. The provisional ballots will be confirmed by signature matching;
(2) Requires that for any election after November 1, 2008, voters must establish their identity prior to voting by providing a non-expired Missouri driver's license; a Missouri non-driver's license; certain specified documents; or photographic identification, without an expiration date, that is issued to members of the Missouri National Guard, the United States armed forces, or by the Veterans' Administration. A voter may cast a provisional ballot, but it will only count if he or she returns to the polling site with the appropriate identification during the election;
(3) Specifies that for all elections any person who has a physical or mental disability, a religious belief forbidding the use of photographic identification, or who was born on or before January 1, 1941, may vote a provisional ballot upon signing an affidavit as specified in § 115.427, RSMo;
(4) Requires that non-driver's licenses be provided free of charge to any eligible voter who lacks other means of identification. Mobile units will assist with issuing the non-driver's licenses, and the Director of the Department of Revenue will provide a report to the General Assembly on the number of non-driver's licenses issued for voting purposes and the reason for denying any request;
(5) Requires the Secretary of State to provide notice of the new voter requirements through major communications media such as radio, television, the Internet, and printed publications;
(6) Specifies that absentee ballots will not be mailed to voters who register by mail until they have voted in person or provided the newly required documentation or photographic identification required to vote a regular ballot. Exceptions are allowed to these absentee ballot requirements based on federal laws;
(7) Requires election authorities to create a list of legally registered voters using the process specified in § 115.158. Precinct binders based on identification by election judges will no longer be sufficient for voter identification lists. Voter notification cards with the new photographic identification requirements will be mailed to registered voters;
(8) Specifies that challenges to the legitimacy of voter identification may be made only to election judges and election authorities as specified in § 115.105;
(9) Provides the criteria for holding elections after natural or man-made disasters and authorizes three judge panels formed by appellate court judges to allow the rescheduling of elections and to oversee elections. Appeals to the Missouri Supreme Court are allowed;
(10) Requires individuals registering more than 10 persons as new voters to register with the Secretary of State as voter registration solicitors. The process and requirements for registration are specified. Solicitors cannot be paid by the quantity of voters registered or the number of applications submitted, but the bill does not prohibit an hourly compensation. Failure to register is a class three election offense;
(11) Specifies detailed criteria for counting different types of punch cards and optical scan ballots to help resolve disputes over how election authorities should judge ballots;
(12) Removes the ability to vote a straight party ticket;
(13) Gives election authorities in St. Charles County the discretion as to the number of ballots they print for elections. All other counties are required to print a ratio of one and one-third times the number of ballots used in the specified types of previous elections;
(14) Requires elections to be held for the board of trustees for community college districts even if the number of candidates is equal to the number of vacancies;
(15) Prohibits state courts from extending poll hours past those established by state law;
(16) Creates two new class one election offenses:
(a) Engaging in any acts of violence, destruction of property worth $500 or more, or threats of violence with the intent of interfering with the right to vote; and
(b) Knowingly providing false information about election procedures for the purpose of preventing voting;
(17) Allows minor children to accompany their parents, grandparents, or guardians to the voting booth;
(18) Removes the ability to vote an advance ballot; and
(19) Removes the ability for voters to challenge the removal of their names from registration lists in circuit court.
The provision regarding the issuance of a non-driver's license at no charge contains an emergency clause.
(Signed 6/14/06)
SB 1016 — County Tax Rate Deadline. Changes the deadline for a county commission to set the annual tax rate from August 10 to September 20.
The bill contains an emergency clause. (Signed 6/9/06)
SB 1056 — Community Improvement Districts Sales Tax. (See Taxation Law)
HCS SCS SB 1086 — Police Officer Compensation. Eliminates the compensation table for St. Louis police officers and allows the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners to establish the annual salary of each member of the police force without receiving prior authorization from the General Assembly.
The bill contains an emergency clause. (Signed 6/21/06)
SB 1094 — Special Business Districts in Springfield. Allows the City of Springfield to dissolve special business districts. Any proceeds from the disposal of the assets of a district must be used by the city for the purposes of the district within the former district’s boundaries. (Signed 6/12/06)
SB 1177 — Local Registrars. Allows the State Registrar within the Department of Health and Senior Services to appoint a person employed by a city health agency as a local registrar. (Signed 6/29/06)
SB 1207 — County Sales Tax Revenue. Requires that 75% of the general county sales tax revenue in New Madrid County be distributed to the county and the remaining 25% distributed equally among the incorporated cities, towns, and villages of the county. Currently, all the revenue goes to the county.
(Signed 6/12/06)