FIRST REGULAR SESSION
93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES WALTON (Sponsor), OXFORD, WILDBERGER, RUPP, HUNTER, BROWN (30), QUINN, VIEBROCK, STEVENSON, PORTWOOD, BOYKINS AND RUCKER (Co-sponsors).
Read 1st time January 27, 2005 and copies ordered printed.
STEPHEN S. DAVIS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal section 321.600, RSMo, and section 321.243 as enacted by senate substitute for senate committee substitute for house committee substitute for house bills nos. 452, 203, 377, 472, 473, 556 & 647, eighty-eighth general assembly, first regular session, section 321.701 as enacted by conference committee substitute no. 2 for senate substitute no. 2 for house committee substitute for house bills nos. 484, 199 & 72, eighty-eighth general assembly, first regular session, and section 321.714 as enacted by conference committee substitute no. 2 for senate substitute no. 2 for house committee substitute for house bills nos. 484, 199 & 72, eighty-eighth general assembly, first regular session relating to fire protection districts.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 321.600, RSMo, and section 321.243 as enacted by senate substitute for senate committee substitute for house committee substitute for house bills nos. 452, 203, 377, 472, 473, 556 & 647, eighty-eighth general assembly, first regular session, section 321.701 as enacted by conference committee substitute no. 2 for senate substitute no. 2 for house committee substitute for house bills nos. 484, 199 & 72, eighty-eighth general assembly, first regular session, and section 321.714 as enacted by conference committee substitute no. 2 for senate substitute no. 2 for house committee substitute for house bills nos. 484, 199 & 72, eighty-eighth general assembly, first regular session are repealed as follows:
[321.243. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an additional tax of not to exceed three cents per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation may be levied and collected by any city, town, village, county, or fire protection district, or a central fire and emergency services board established in subsection 4 of this section. All the funds derived from such tax shall be used solely for the purpose of establishing and providing a joint, central fire and emergency dispatching service.
2. The additional tax prescribed by this section shall be levied only when the governing body of the city, town, village, county, fire protection district, or central fire and emergency services board determines that a central fire and emergency dispatching center will meet the minimum requirements set by section 321.245, and, except where a central fire and emergency services board is established in accordance with subsection 4 of this section, when the governing body has entered into a contract with the center for fire and emergency dispatching services. The funds from the tax shall be kept separate and apart from all other funds of the city, town, village, county, fire protection district, or central fire and emergency services board and shall be paid out only on order of the governing body. Except as provided in subsection 4 of this section, all funds received by such center, and all operations of such center shall be governed and controlled by a board of directors consisting of one member from each such agency using the joint, central fire and emergency dispatching service. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4 of this section, in any county, city, town, or village, where a tax-supported fire protection district is provided emergency dispatching services by any form of joint communication organization or emergency dispatching center, receiving directly or indirectly any funds so levied and collected as provided in this section including any funds or tariffs paid by telephone subscribers for 911 emergency service, such joint communication organization, however organized, shall be governed by a board of directors, and the board of directors shall consist in part of one member appointed by each county, city, town, village or tax-supported fire protection district, so served. The members shall be an elected official of a fire protection district, ambulance district or city council appointed by each such agency to serve for a one-year term or until a successor is duly appointed.
3. In addition to the tax prescribed by subsections 1 and 2 of this section, an additional tax of not to exceed two cents per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation which has been approved by the voters may be levied and collected by any city, town, village, county, or fire protection district, or a central fire and emergency services board established in subsection 4 of this section of a county of the first classification with a charter form of government which has a population between two hundred thousand and five hundred thousand inhabitants, but all of the funds derived from such tax shall be used solely for the purpose of establishing and providing a joint, central fire and emergency dispatching service.
4. A central fire and emergency services board shall be established in any county of the first classification with a charter form of government which has a population between two hundred thousand and five hundred thousand inhabitants in the manner prescribed in this subsection. The board shall have all powers and duties prescribed in this section and section 321.245 to establish and provide a joint, central fire and emergency dispatching service. The initial board shall be established at the April, 1996, election. The election authority shall be ordered to conduct such election, which shall be conducted as a nonpartisan election. The board shall consist of one member elected from each county council district. All board members shall serve for four-year terms, except that of the initial members elected, the members elected from odd-numbered county council districts shall serve for terms of two years and the members elected from even-numbered county council districts shall serve for terms of four years. Each member shall be a resident of the county council district from which the member is elected. No person who is a paid employee of any fire protection district, ambulance district, joint, central fire and emergency dispatch board, or a paid employee of a fire or ambulance department of a municipality shall be elected to the joint, central fire and emergency dispatch board. At such election, the election authority of the county shall submit to the qualified voters of the county a proposal for the board to levy and collect the taxes prescribed in this section, and such tax shall be conditioned on the replacement of the tax levied in such county by the county under this section with the new tax levied by the board. A portion of the funds derived from the tax levied pursuant to this subsection shall be used to reimburse the county for the cost of the election held in April, 1996, and any subsequent elections that are necessary for the operation of the board and the board's duties. In addition, if such a tax is approved, any funds remaining in the separate fund kept by the county, as required by subsection 2 of this section, and any property and equipment purchased with moneys in such separate fund held by the county shall be transferred to the fund maintained by the board for the same purpose. The board shall abide by section 50.660, RSMo, in the letting of contracts. The board shall be audited by the state auditor pursuant to section 29.230, RSMo. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the board shall meet once each month as established in the bylaws. Any other meeting may be called by four of the seven members voting in favor of having an additional meeting.]
[321.600. For the purpose of providing fire protection to the property within the district, the district and, on its behalf, the board shall have the following powers, authority and privileges:
(1) To have perpetual existence;
(2) To have and use a corporate seal;
(3) To sue and be sued, and be a party to suits, actions and proceedings;
(4) To enter into contracts, franchises and agreements with any person, partnership, association or corporation, public or private, affecting the affairs of the district, including contracts with any municipality, district or state, or the United States of America, and any of their agencies, political subdivisions or instrumentalities, for the planning, development, construction, acquisition or operation of any public improvement or facility, or for a common service relating to the control or prevention of fires, including the installation, operation and maintenance of water supply distribution, fire hydrant and fire alarm systems; provided, that a notice shall be published for bids on all construction or purchase contracts for work or material or both, outside the authority contained in subdivision (9) of this section, involving an expense of ten thousand dollars or more;
(5) Upon approval of the voters, as herein provided, to borrow money and incur indebtedness and evidence the same by certificates, notes or debentures, and to issue bonds, in accordance with the provisions of sections 321.010 to 321.450;
(6) To acquire, construct, purchase, maintain, dispose of and encumber real and personal property, fire stations, fire protection and fire-fighting apparatus and auxiliary equipment therefor, and any interest therein, including leases and easements;
(7) To refund any bonded indebtedness of the district without an election. The terms and conditions of refunding bonds shall be substantially the same as those of the original issue of bonds, and the board shall provide for the payment of interest, at not to exceed the legal rate, and the principal of such refunding bonds in the same manner as is provided for the payment of interest and principal of bonds refunded;
(8) To have the management, control and supervision of all the business and affairs of the district, and the construction, installation, operation and maintenance of district improvements therein;
(9) To hire and retain agents, employees, engineers and attorneys, including part-time or volunteer firemen;
(10) To have and exercise the power of eminent domain and in the manner provided by law for the condemnation of private property for public use to take any property within the district necessary to the exercise of the powers herein granted;
(11) To receive and accept by bequest, gift or donation any kind of property. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any property received by the fire protection district as a gift or any property purchased by the fire protection district at a price below the actual market value of the property may be returned to the donor or resold to the seller if such property is not used for the specific purpose for which it was acquired;
(12) To adopt and amend bylaws, fire protection and fire prevention ordinances, and any other rules and regulations not in conflict with the constitution and laws of this state, necessary for the carrying on of the business, objects and affairs of the board and of the district, and refer to the proper authorities for prosecution any violation thereof detrimental to the district. Any person violating any such ordinance is hereby declared to be guilty of a class B misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished as is provided herein:
(a) The prosecuting attorney for the county in which the violation occurs shall prosecute such violations in the circuit court of that county. The legal officer or attorney for the fire district may be appointed by the prosecuting attorney as special assistant prosecuting attorney for the prosecution of any such violation; or
(b) The board may adopt a specific ordinance to impose a fine or a series of fines for specific offenses of not more than five hundred dollars. The accused person may either appear in court at a set date or make payment to the officer appointed by the board, either in person or through the United States mail, with the moneys handled as are all other moneys of the district. If the fine is not paid by the deadline imposed, the violation and the failure to pay the fine or appear in court at the set date may be further prosecuted as provided in paragraph (a) of this subdivision.
The enactments of the fire district in delegating administrative authority to officials of the district may provide standards of action for the administrative officials, which standards are declared as industrial codes adopted by nationally organized and recognized trade bodies;
(13) To pay all court costs and expenses connected with the first election or any subsequent election in the district;
(14) To have and exercise all rights and powers necessary or incidental to or implied from the specific powers granted herein. Such specific powers shall not be considered as a limitation upon any power necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes and intent of sections 321.010 to 321.450;
(15) To provide for health, accident, disability, and pension benefits, through either or both a contributory or noncontributory plan, of the salaried members and such other benefits for their spouses and eligible unemancipated children of its organized fire department of the district. For purposes of this section, "eligible unemancipated child" means a natural or adopted child of an insured, or a stepchild of an insured who is domiciled with the insured, who is less than twenty-three years of age, who is not married, not employed on a full-time basis, not maintaining a separate residence except for full-time students in an accredited school or institution of higher learning, and who is dependent on parents or guardians for at least fifty percent of his or her support. Such benefits shall be determined by the board of directors of the fire protection district within the level of available revenues of the pension program and other available revenues of the district. If an employee contributory plan is adopted, then at least one voting member of the board of trustees shall be a member of the fire district elected by the contributing members, which shall not be the same as the board of directors;
(16) To provide for life insurance, accident, sickness, health, disability, annuity, uniform, length of service, pension, retirement and other employee-type fringe benefits, subject to the provisions of section 70.615, RSMo, through either a contributory or noncontributory plan or both, for the volunteer members and such other benefits for their spouses and minor children of any organized fire department of the district. The type and amount of such benefits shall be determined by the board of directors of the fire protection district within available revenues of the district, including the pension program of the district. The provision and receipt of such benefits shall not make the recipient an employee of the district. Directors who are also volunteer members may receive such benefits while serving as a director of the district;
(17) To contract for services with any rural, volunteer or subscription fire department or organization, or volunteer fire protection association, as defined in section 320.300, RSMo, for the purpose of providing the benefits described in subdivision (16) of this section.]
[321.701. 1. Each member of a fire protection district board located in any county of the first classification with a population of nine hundred thousand or more inhabitants shall be subject to recall from office by the registered voters of the district from which he was elected. Proceedings may be commenced for the recall of any fire protection district board member by the filing of a notice of intention to circulate a recall petition pursuant to sections 321.701 to 321.716.
2. Proceedings may not be commenced against any member if, at the time of commencement, that member:
(1) Has not held office during his current term for a period of more than one hundred eighty days; or
(2) Has one hundred eighty days or less remaining in his term; or
(3) Has had a recall election determined in his favor within the current term of office.]
[321.714. 1. If the election authority finds the signatures on the petition, together with the supplementary petition sections if any, to be sufficient, it shall submit its certificate as to the sufficiency of the petition to the fire protection district board prior to its next meeting. The certificate shall contain:
(1) The name of the member whose recall is sought;
(2) The number of signatures required by law;
(3) The total number of signatures on the petition;
(4) The number of valid signatures on the petition.
2. Following the fire protection board's receipt of the certificate, the county election authority shall order an election to be held on one of the election days specified in section 115.123, RSMo. The election shall be held not less than forty-five days nor more than one hundred twenty days after the fire protection district board receives the petition. Nominations hereunder shall be made by filing a statement of candidacy with the election authority.
3. At any time prior to forty-two days before the election, the member sought to be recalled may offer his resignation. If his resignation is offered, the recall question shall be removed from the ballot and the office declared vacant. The member who resigned may not fill the vacancy which shall be filled as provided by law.]