HCS HB 1205 -- PUBLIC SAFETY

SPONSOR:  Bruns (Schad)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Public
Safety by a vote of 10 to 1.

This substitute changes the laws regarding public safety.  In its
main provisions, the substitute:

(1)  Authorizes the City of Kansas City to impose, upon voter
approval, a sales tax of one-eighth, one-fourth, three-eighths,
or one-half of 1% for public safety activities, including
operations and capital improvements, and for the retirement of
bonded indebtedness (Section 94.577, RSMo);

(2)  Specifies that a candidate who files for a public office
will be disqualified from running if he or she owes any
delinquent city taxes or municipal user fees to the appropriate
local taxing authority (Section 115.342);

(3)  Allows any ambulance district established under Chapter 190
on or after August 28, 2010, to impose, upon voter approval, a
sales tax in lieu of a property tax to fund the district.  A
petition to establish an ambulance district must state whether it
will be funded by a property or a sales tax (Sections 190.015,
190.035, and 190.040);

(4)  Requires the chief law enforcement official responsible for
a municipal detention facility or a county or regional jail or
the chief administrator of a private jail to notify the Missouri
Uniform Law Enforcement System (MULES) as soon as reasonably
possible but no later than five hours after an escape of a
prisoner who has been convicted of a dangerous felony or who is
being held on suspicion of having committed a dangerous felony.
The notification must include the name, description, and
photograph of the prisoner as well as other relevant facts
(Section 221.505);

(5)  Requires any political subdivision or the owner of a private
property parking lot, when restriping an existing lot or
constructing a new parking lot, to designate one out of every
four spaces as accessible, with at least one having an access
aisle which is a minimum of 96 inches wide and designated "lift
van accessible only" with signs that comply with the federal
Americans with Disabilities Act (Section 301.143);

(6)  Prohibits anyone, regardless of age, from sending, reading,
or writing a text message or electronic message from a hand-held
electronic wireless communications device while operating a
moving motor vehicle on any highway in this state and specifies
that two points will be assessed against a person's driver's
license for these violations and one point for any violation
where no accident was involved.  Currently, an individual 21
years of age or younger is prohibited from these activities with
no points assessed against his or her driver's license (Sections
302.302 and 304.820);

(7)  Requires a nonresident motorist operating or who allows
another person to operate a vehicle within the state to maintain
financial responsibility that meets the requirements of his or
her state (Section 303.025);

(8)  Creates the crime of motorcycle stunt driving when a person
operates or is a passenger on a motorcycle on the roadways of the
state and performs a dangerous stunt as specified in the
substitute.  Stunt driving will be a class C misdemeanor for a
first offense or a class A misdemeanor if the motorcycle did not
have a license plate.  A second offense will be a class A
misdemeanor or a class D felony if the motorcycle did not have a
license plate.  A third or subsequent offense will be a class D
felony (Section 304.667);

(9)  Specifies that a person will be guilty of the crime of
endangerment of emergency personnel or emergency responder if,
while in an active emergency zone as defined in the substitute,
the person commits certain specified acts.  Any person who
commits this crime will be fined up to $1,000 and have four
points assessed against his or her driver's license in addition
to any other penalty authorized by law.  If the offense results
in the injury or death of an emergency responder or emergency
personnel, the person will be guilty of aggravated endangerment
of an emergency responder and subject to a fine of up to $5,000
for an injury and up to $10,000 for a death with 12 points
assessed against the person's driver's license.  The substitute
also increases the amount of the fine assessed for certain
traffic violations if the violation occurred in an active
emergency zone (Sections 304.890, 304.892, and 304.894);

(10)  Prohibits any county, city, town, village, municipality,
state agency, or other political subdivision from using an
automated speed enforcement system as specified in the substitute
to enforce speeding violations.  The system may be used in a
school, construction, or work zone.  Warning signs must be
installed within 500 feet of the system indicating its operation
(Section 304.900);

(11)  Repeals the provision which requires moneys collected for
the State Water Patrol Fund to be deposited into the General
Revenue Fund if the state's net general revenue did not increase
by 2% or more during the immediate previous fiscal year (Section
306.185);

(12)  Prohibits a person contracting to provide professional
accounting and legal services to a fire protection district from
receiving compensation after the termination of the contract,
except for services actually rendered (Section 321.018);

(13)  Specifies that the director of a fire protection district
who has been found guilty of or pled guilty to a felony will
immediately forfeit the office (Section 321.130);

(14)  Specifies that all moneys derived from a central fire and
emergency dispatching services tax, including any existing
surplus funds, may be used by any city, town, village, county, or
fire protection district or a central fire and emergency services
board for the purpose of establishing and providing the joint
services except in St. Louis County where the funds are used for
equipment and services by cities, towns, villages, counties, or
fire protection districts which contract with the joint central
fire and emergency dispatching services except for salaries,
wages, and benefits.  Currently, existing surplus funds are not
allowed to be used for these purposes.  The substitute also
specifies that in charter counties no revenue derived from the
tax can be used for any purpose other than the stated purposes,
unless and until a proposal is submitted to and approved by the
voters of the fire protection district to use the revenue for
general revenue purposes (Section 321.243);

(15)  Reduces the number of signatures required to recall a fire
protection district officer from 25% to 20% of the number of
voters who voted in the last gubernatorial election in the
district (Section 321.711);

(16)  Requires contract carriers who are paid to transport
railroad employees to equip all vehicles purchased, leased, or
otherwise newly placed into service after February 28, 2011, with
one or more oscillating amber or white strobe lights mounted to
the rear one-third of the roof or integrated into the rear bumper
of the vehicle.  The light must be used to provide warning to
other motorists whenever the vehicle has stopped on or directly
adjacent to a roadway for the loading or unloading of passengers
or equipment (Section 389.1150);

(17)  Specifies that any search and rescue operation medical
assistant or tactical operation medical assistant rendering care
or treatment, without additional pay, during a search and rescue
or tactical operation to the level for which he or she has been
trained will not be liable for civil damages for an act or
omission other than gross negligence or willful or wanton acts or
omissions (Section 537.037);

(18)  Establishes Susie's Law which prohibits any child younger
than 18 years of age from riding as a passenger on any machinery
or heavy equipment not manufactured for passengers, excluding
farm machinery as defined in Section 32.085.  Any operator who
violates this provision will be subject to a fine of $100 for the
first violation and $500 for any subsequent violation (Section
578.275);

(19)  Adds any record or document regarding internal
investigations by law enforcement agencies into the fitness and
conduct of a law enforcement officer and any record or document
regarding a law enforcement officer's employment status to the
list of records that can be closed under the Open Meetings and
Records Law, commonly known as the Sunshine Law (Section
610.010);

(20)  Adds any record or document regarding a police shooting to
the list of records that can be closed if it contains the name of
the officer who did the shooting unless the officer has been
charged with a crime as a result of the shooting (Section
610.021);

(21)  Prohibits any law enforcement agency from disclosing the
name of any officer who was the shooter or one of the shooters
involved in a police shooting unless the officer has been charged
with a crime as a result of the shooting (Sections 610.055 and
610.100);

(22)  Requires any employee of the state or any political
subdivision to be given a leave of absence with pay, if the
employee is a duly authorized representative of an employee
organization and affiliated with the Fraternal Order of Police or
the International Association of Firefighters, to attend any
state or national convention of the organization.  The number of
representatives who are allowed to attend is specified based on
the number of organization members unless negotiated otherwise by
the employer and the representatives of the employee association.
The leave of absence must be for a period inclusive of the
duration of the convention and a reasonable travel time but
cannot be for more than three days.  Upon request by the
employer, a certificate of attendance must be submitted by the
attending representative (Section 650.035); and

(23)  Adds one active member of the Missouri Deputy Sheriff's
Association to the Missouri Sheriff Methamphetamine Relief
Taskforce (MoSMART).  The taskforce member will serve a two-year
term and be appointed by the Governor from a list of five names
submitted by the association (Section 650.350).

The substitute contains an emergency clause for the provisions
regarding the authorization of the additional sales tax in Kansas
City for public safety activities.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Cost on General Revenue Fund of More than
$105,467 or More than $2,605,467 in FY 2011, More than $75,706 or
More than $2,575,706 in FY 2012, and More than $77,978 or More
than $2,577,978 in FY 2013.  Estimated Effect on Other State
Funds of a cost of Unknown to an income of More than $2,500,000
in FY 2011, FY 2012, and FY 2013.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the bill will save lives because
of the many accidents occurring when a driver is distracted while
using his or her cell phone to text or email.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Schaaf; Missouri
Insurance Coalition; Brent Butler, Farmers Insurance Group; State
Farm Insurance Companies; Missouri State Troopers Association;
Missouri Municipal League; AT&T, Incorporated and Affiliates;
Bill Trimm, Silver Haired Legislature of Missouri; Missouri State
Medical Association; Missouri Trucking Association; and
Department of Transportation.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

OTHERS:  Others testifying on the bill say that last year there
were over 155,000 crashes, almost 41,000 of which were due to
driver inattention, with around 1,700 of those being directly
attributed to cell phone use while driving.  Since the enactment
of last year's legislation, the State Highway Patrol has given 13
citations.

Testifying on the bill was State Highway Patrol.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:10 pm