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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1344
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR COLEMAN.
5755S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 72.401 and 72.420, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating
to county boundary commissions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 72.401 and 72.420, RSMo, are repealed 1
and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as 2
sections 72.401 and 72.420, to read as follows:3
72.401. 1. If a commission has been established under 1
sections 72.400 to 72.423 in any county with a charter form 2
of government where fifty or more cities, towns and villages 3
have been established or any county with a charter form of 4
government and with more than two hundred thousand but fewer 5
than three hundred fifty thousand inhabitants, any boundary 6
change within the county shall proceed solely and 7
exclusively in the manner provided for by sections 72.400 to 8
72.423, notwithstanding any statutory provisions to the 9
contrary concerning such boundary changes. 10
2. In any county with a charter form of government 11
where fifty or more cities, towns and villages have been 12
established or any county with a charter form of government 13
and with more than two hundred thousand but fewer than three 14
hundred fifty thousand inhabitants, if the governing body of 15
such county has by ordinance established a boundary 16
commission, as provided in sections 72.400 to 72.423, then 17
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boundary changes in such county shall proceed only as 18
provided in sections 72.400 to 72.423. 19
3. The commission shall be composed of eleven members 20
as provided in this subsection. No member, employee or 21
contractor of the commission shall be an elective official, 22
employee or contractor of the county or of any political 23
subdivision within the county or of any organization 24
representing political subdivisions or officers or employees 25
of political subdivisions. Each of the appointing 26
authorities described in subdivisions (1) to (3) of this 27
subsection shall appoint persons who shall be residents of 28
their respective locality so described. The appointing 29
authority making the appointments shall be: 30
(1) The chief elected officials of all municipalities 31
wholly within the county which have a population of more 32
than twenty thousand persons, who shall name two members to 33
the commission as prescribed in this subsection each of whom 34
is a resident of a municipality within the county of more 35
than twenty thousand persons; 36
(2) The chief elected officials of all municipalities 37
wholly within the county which have a population of twenty 38
thousand or less but more than ten thousand persons, who 39
shall name one member to the commission as prescribed in 40
this subsection who is a resident of a municipality within 41
the county with a population of twenty thousand or less but 42
more than ten thousand persons; 43
(3) The chief elected officials of all municipalities 44
wholly within the county which have a population of ten 45
thousand persons or less, who shall name one member to the 46
commission as prescribed in this subsection who is a 47
resident of a municipality within the county with a 48
population of ten thousand persons or less; 49
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(4) An appointive body consisting of the director of 50
the county department of planning, the president of the 51
municipal league of the county, one additional person 52
designated by the county executive, and one additional 53
person named by the board of the municipal league of the 54
county, which appointive body, acting by a majority of all 55
of its members, shall name three members of the commission 56
who are residents of the county; and 57
(5) The county executive of the county, who shall name 58
four members of the commission, three of whom shall be from 59
the unincorporated area of the county and one of whom shall 60
be from the incorporated area of the county. 61
The seat of a commissioner shall be automatically vacated 62
when the commissioner changes his or her residence so as to 63
no longer conform to the terms of the requirements of the 64
commissioner's appointment. The commission shall promptly 65
notify the appointing authority of such change of residence. 66
4. Upon the passage of an ordinance by the governing 67
body of the county establishing a boundary commission, the 68
governing body of the county shall, within ten days, send by 69
United States mail written notice of the passage of the 70
ordinance to the chief elected official of each municipality 71
wholly or partly in the county. 72
5. Each of the appointing authorities described in 73
subdivisions (1) to (4) of subsection 3 of this section 74
shall meet within thirty days of the passage of the 75
ordinance establishing the commission to compile its list of 76
appointees. Each list shall be delivered to the county 77
executive within forty-one days of the passage of such 78
ordinance. The county executive shall appoint members 79
within forty-five days of the passage of the ordinance. If 80
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a list is not submitted by the time specified, the county 81
executive shall appoint the members using the criteria of 82
subsection 3 of this section before the sixtieth day from 83
the passage of the ordinance. At the first meeting of the 84
commission appointed after the effective date of the 85
ordinance, the commissioners shall choose by lot the length 86
of their terms. Three shall serve for one year, two for two 87
years, two for three years, two for four years, and two for 88
five years. All succeeding commissioners shall serve for 89
five years. Terms shall end on December thirty-first of the 90
respective year. No commissioner shall serve more than two 91
consecutive full terms. Full terms shall include any term 92
longer than two years. 93
6. When a member's term expires, or if a member is for 94
any reason unable to complete such member's term, the 95
respective appointing authority shall appoint such member's 96
successor. Each appointing authority shall act to ensure 97
that each appointee is secured accurately and in a timely 98
manner, when a member's term expires or as soon as possible 99
when a member is unable to complete such member's term. A 100
member whose term has expired shall continue to serve until 101
a successor is appointed and qualified. 102
7. The commission, its employees and subcontractors 103
shall be subject to the regulation of conflicts of interest 104
as defined in sections 105.450 to 105.496 and to the 105
requirements for open meetings and records under chapter 610. 106
8. Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the 107
contrary, any boundary adjustment approved by the 108
residential property owners and the governing bodies of the 109
affected municipalities or the county, if involved, and any 110
voluntary annexation approved by municipal ordinance 111
provided that the municipality owns the area to be annexed, 112
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that the area is contiguous with the municipality, and that 113
the area is utilized only for parks and recreation purposes, 114
shall not be subject to commission review. Such a boundary 115
adjustment or annexation is not prohibited by the existence 116
of an established unincorporated area. 117
9. Any annexation of property or defined areas of 118
properties approved by a majority of property owners 119
residing thereon and by ordinance of any municipality that 120
is a service provider for both the water and sanitary sewer 121
within the municipality shall be effective as provided in 122
the annexation ordinance and shall not be subject to 123
commission review. Such annexation shall not be prohibited 124
by the existence of an established unincorporated area. 125
72.420. 1. The provisions of this section shall apply 1
to the consolidation of two or more cities, towns, villages, 2
unincorporated areas, or any combination thereof, in any 3
county with a charter form of government where fifty or more 4
cities, towns and villages have been incorporated or any 5
county with a charter form of government and with more than 6
two hundred thousand but fewer than three hundred fifty 7
thousand inhabitants. If a boundary commission has been 8
established pursuant to section 72.400, such proposal shall 9
be submitted to the commission, but if no such commission 10
has been established, consolidation of such areas shall be 11
accomplished pursuant to this section. All municipalities 12
and unincorporated areas which may be consolidated under the 13
procedures established in this section must be contiguous to 14
each other, so that if the consolidation is approved by the 15
voters pursuant to subsections 7 to 9 of this section, there 16
will be one municipality with all parts contiguous to at 17
least one other portion of the new municipality. 18
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2. Whenever a petition for consolidation containing 19
the signatures of at least fifteen percent of the qualified 20
voters of each municipality or unincorporated area, 21
determined on the basis of the number of votes cast for 22
governor at the last gubernatorial election held prior to 23
the filing of the petition, is received by the governing 24
body of the county, the governing body of the county shall 25
submit the question of consolidation to the qualified voters 26
of each municipality and unincorporated area named in the 27
petition at the next state or county primary, general or 28
special election. The petition need not contain signatures 29
of qualified voters of a municipality if the governing body 30
of such municipality adopts an ordinance approving the 31
proposed consolidation which meets the requirements of 32
subsection 5 of this section, and sends a copy of the 33
ordinance to the governing body of the county in conjunction 34
with the petition prescribed by this subsection. 35
3. A petition for consolidation shall contain the 36
following: 37
(1) The names of the municipalities and a description 38
of any unincorporated area to be consolidated; 39
(2) The proposed effective date of consolidation; 40
(3) The number of votes cast in the last election in 41
each municipality and unincorporated area; and 42
(4) A statement that all signers are registered voters 43
in the affected municipalities or unincorporated areas. 44
The petition may contain the form of government, the name of 45
the municipality as consolidated and the details of 46
transition, such as which officers will serve, which 47
employees shall be retained, what taxes will be collected, 48
what ordinances will be in effect and similar matters for 49
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the operation of the consolidated municipality until the new 50
governing body provides otherwise. 51
4. All persons signing the petition for consolidation 52
shall designate their address opposite their signatures, and 53
such signatures shall be affixed before a person who shall 54
certify, by affidavit acknowledged before a notary public, 55
that such signatures were affixed in his presence. 56
5. Any ordinance approving a proposed consolidation 57
shall contain the following: 58
(1) The names of the municipalities and a description 59
of any unincorporated area to be consolidated; 60
(2) The proposed effective date of the consolidation; 61
(3) The number of votes cast in the last election in 62
that municipality. 63
The ordinance may contain the form of government, the name 64
of the municipality as consolidated, and the details of 65
transition prescribed in subsection 3 of this section. 66
6. The costs of an election held under this section 67
shall be assessed proportionately to each municipality; 68
however, when a voting jurisdiction is composed of 69
unincorporated territory or territories, all costs of the 70
election in such voting jurisdictions shall be paid 71
proportionally by each municipality in the proposed 72
consolidation. Proportional election costs paid under this 73
section shall be assessed by charging each municipality the 74
same percentage of the total cost of the election as the 75
number of registered voters of the municipality on the day 76
of the election is to the total number of registered voters 77
on the day of the election, derived by adding together the 78
number of registered voters in each municipality. 79
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7. The question shall be submitted separately, but on 80
the same date, to each municipality and unincorporated area 81
described in the petition or ordinances filed pursuant to 82
subsections 2 to 5 of this section. The question shall be 83
submitted in substantially the following form: 84
The consolidation shall only become effective if a separate 89
majority of the votes cast on the proposal in each 90
municipality and unincorporated area affected by such 91
proposal are in favor of the consolidation. If the voters 92
of any municipality or unincorporated area vote against such 93
proposal, the consolidation shall not take effect, even if 94
the voters of all other municipalities and unincorporated 95
areas vote in favor of the proposal. 96
8. If a consolidation is approved by the voters, such 97
proposal shall be effective six months following the date of 98
the election or the date specified in such proposal, 99
whichever date is later. Immediately following the 100
certification of the election, the governing body of each 101
affected municipality shall select two members and the 102
governing body of the county in which each unincorporated 103
territory is situated shall select two members from each 104
affected unincorporated territory to meet with similar 105
members appointed from other affected municipalities and 106
unincorporated territories in order to determine the details 107
of the transition. 108
85
86
87
Shall the municipalities of ______ (list all
municipalities) be consolidated into one
municipality?
88 □ YES □ NO
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9. If the consolidation is approved, it shall create a 109
new municipality, and the governing body of the county shall 110
declare such municipality, designating in such order the 111
metes and bounds thereof, and henceforth the inhabitants 112
within such bounds shall be a body politic and incorporate, 113
by the name and style of "the city of ______". 114
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