HCS SCS SB 765 -- POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS

SPONSOR:  Goodman (Schneider)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Local
Government by a vote of 10 to 2.

This substitute changes the laws regarding political
subdivisions.  In its main provisions, the substitute:

(1)  Removes villages from a certain incorporation procedure for
cities and towns and increases the threshold number of signatures
required on a petition to incorporate from 15% of the registered
voters to 15% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial
election in the area proposed to be incorporated.  In charter
counties and counties of the first classification, any village
incorporated under this procedure between August 28, 2007, and
August 28, 2008, will be subject to all county building codes
(Section 72.080, RSMo);

(2)  Authorizes charter counties and counties of the first
classification to impose, upon voter approval, a fee not to
exceed 75 cents per month per wireless telephone number on every
wireless telephone number capable of accessing the 911 system in
that county, for use by the police department for 911 equipment,
personnel, training, and related services (Sections 190.450 and
190.451);

(3)  Specifies that a liquor license may not be denied,
suspended, or revoked based solely on the fact that an employee
has a single felony conviction unrelated to the manufacture or
sale of alcohol or two or more felony convictions unrelated to
the manufacture or sale of alcohol so long as the employee does
not directly participate in retail sales.  The Division of
Alcohol and Tobacco Control within the Department of Public
Safety may regulate categories of offenders and offenses and the
types of employment and activities within licensed establishments
in which different categories of offenders may engage (Section
311.060);

(4)  Allows a Kansas City festival district promotional
association to obtain a license to sell intoxicating liquor and
nonintoxicating beer for consumption at the businesses and common
areas within the festival district (Section 311.489);

(5)  Prohibits an individual or business organization from
misrepresenting the geographic location of the service or product
supplier by using a fictitious or an assumed business name in an
advertisement in a local telephone directory or in a directory
assistance database.  A person or organization violating this
provision will be prohibited from listing its name in the next
published local telephone directory unless the person or
organization provides an actual local address and will be guilty
of a class B misdemeanor (Section 407.311); and

(6)  Regulates sexually oriented businesses by limiting their
geographic location, ownership interests, state of dress and
actions of persons within the sexually oriented business, minimum
age of patrons, use or sale of alcohol on site, hours of
operation, and location of private viewing booths within the
sexually oriented business and specifies the penalties for
violations of these restrictions (Sections 573.525, 573.528,
573.531, 573.534, 573.537, and 573.540).

The substitute contains an emergency clause for the provisions
regarding village incorporation.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Cost on General Revenue Fund of $70,007
in FY 2009, $58,941 in FY 2010, and $60,709 in FY 2011.  No
impact on Other State Funds in FY 2009, FY 2010, and FY 2011.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that Section 72.080 currently takes
away a large measure of local control and allows developers and
individuals to avoid a county's planning and zoning regulations,
building codes, health codes, and nuisance laws.  It also puts
the interests of the village applicant before the interests of
the rest of the county.

Testifying for the bill were Senator Goodman; Carolyn Lorraine,
Camden County Commission, County Commissioners Association of
Missouri, and Missouri Association of Counties; Jim Roman; Karen
Miller, Boone County Commission; Edward Hillhouse and Terry O.
Wilson, Franklin County Commission; Greene County Commission;
County Commissioners Association of Missouri; Branson/Lakes Area
Chamber of Commerce; John R. Harris III; and Clarence Parmentier.

OPPONENTS:  Those who oppose the bill say that Section 72.080
currently gives a person a remedy other than litigation when a
county will not follow its own master plan, and it gives a
property owner the ability to install utilities when the local
government cannot or will not.

Testifying against the bill were Brad Ferguson; and Anthony
Bequette.

Missouri House of Representatives
94th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated October 15, 2008 at 3:12 pm