FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 304

91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE WALTON.

Read 1st time January 10, 2001, and 1000 copies ordered printed.

TED WEDEL, Chief Clerk

0763L.02I

AN ACT

To repeal sections 321.130 and 321.200, RSMo 2000, relating to the composition of fire protection district boards, and to enact in lieu thereof three new sections relating to the same subject.



Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Sections 321.130 and 321.200, RSMo 2000, are repealed and three new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 321.130, 321.200 and 321.512, to read as follows:

321.130. 1. A person, to be qualified to serve as a director, shall be a voter of the district at least two years prior to his or her election or appointment, and a voter of the subdistrict from which he or she is elected or appointed in the case of any district described in section 321.512, and be over the age of twenty-five years; except as provided in subsections 2 and 3 of this section. Nominations and declarations of candidacy shall be filed at the headquarters of the fire protection district by paying a ten dollar filing fee and filing a statement under oath that such person possesses the required qualifications.

2. In any fire protection district located in more than one county one of which is a first class county without a charter form of government having a population of more than one hundred ninety-eight thousand and not adjoining any other first class county or located wholly within a first class county as described herein, a resident shall have been a resident of the district for more than one year to be qualified to serve as a director.

3. In any fire protection district located in a county of the third or fourth classification, a person to be qualified to serve as a director shall be over the age of twenty-five years and shall be a voter of the county in which the district is located for more than two years prior to his or her election or appointment, except that for the first board of directors in such district, a person need only be a voter of the county in which the district is located for one year prior to his or her election or appointment.

4. A person desiring to become a candidate for the first board of directors of the proposed district shall pay the sum of five dollars as a filing fee to the treasurer of the county and shall file with the election authority a statement under oath that he or she possesses all of the qualifications set out in this chapter for a director of a fire protection district. Thereafter, such candidate shall have his or her name placed on the ballot as a candidate for director.

321.200. 1. The board shall meet regularly, not less than once each month, at a time and at some building in the district to be designated by the board. Notice of the time and place of future regular meetings shall be posted continuously at the firehouse or firehouses of the district. Additional meetings may be held, when the needs of the district so require, at a place regular meetings are held, and notice of the time and place shall be given to each member of the board. Meetings of the board shall be held and conducted in the manner required by the provisions of chapter 610, RSMo. All minutes of meetings of the board and all other records of the fire protection district shall be available for public inspection at the main firehouse within the district by appointment with the secretary of the board within one week after a written request is made between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. every day except Sunday. A majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum at any meeting and no business shall be transacted unless a quorum is present. The board, acting as a board, shall exercise all powers of the board, without delegation thereof to any other governmental or other body or entity or association, and without delegation thereof to less than a quorum of the board. Agents, employees, engineers, auditors, attorneys, firemen and any other member of the staff of the district may be employed or discharged only by a board which includes at least two directors; but any board of directors may suspend from duty any such person or staff member who willfully and deliberately neglects or refuses to perform his or her regular functions.

2. Any vacancy on the board shall be filled by the remaining [elected] members of the board[, except when less than two elected members remain on the board any vacancy shall be filled by the circuit court of the county in which all or a majority of the district lies]. The appointee or appointees shall act until the next biennial election at which a director or directors are elected to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.

321.512. 1. In any fire protection district located within a county of the first classification with a charter form of government and a population of more than nine hundred thousand inhabitants, provided that such district includes either:

(1) The greater portion of any fourth class city with a population of more than two thousand seven hundred but less than two thousand eight hundred which is located in such county; or

(2) All of any third class city with a population of more than six thousand one hundred but less than six thousand four hundred which is located in such county;



the circuit court that established any such district pursuant to this chapter shall, on or before December 1, 2001, and every ten years thereafter, establish subdistricts for such districts. The subdistricts established by the court shall be compact, contiguous and as nearly equal in population as practicable.

2. The number of subdistricts established shall be equal to the number of board members allowed for such district, and shall be increased or decreased by the court for subsequent elections in the event that the number of board members is changed pursuant to this chapter.

3. All board members in such districts shall be elected to represent one of the subdistricts, beginning with the first municipal general election after December 1, 2001. The terms of all members elected or appointed prior to December 1, 2001, shall continue for their originally allotted term, and shall last until a successor is elected, is qualified and takes office. The first election to occur after December 1, 2001, shall be for subdistrict 1, as that district is drawn by the court pursuant to this section. The second election shall be for subdistrict 2, and the third election shall be for subdistrict 3. Any additional subdistricts shall be filled at such elections as designated by the court, with staggered terms consistent with this section.

4. The person receiving the highest number of votes from a subdistrict shall be the board member elected from that subdistrict. In the event that the length of a term for a board member pursuant to this chapter is changed, the length of the term of the board members described in this section shall be changed accordingly, and the circuit court shall establish new staggered election terms for such board members as consistent as is possible with this section and this chapter.


Missouri House of Representatives