Missouri AG Opinions — 1972

Opinion letter to the Honorable Phil Snowden

Opinion letter to the Honorable E. Richard Webber

Opinion letter to the Honorable James C. Kirkpatrick

A fire protection district located in a county of the first class may use the intangible personal property taxes it receives for pensioning of its firemen provided a majority of the qualified voters casting votes vote in favor of pensioning the salaried members of the fire department as provided under Section 321.600, RSMo 1969.

A person is not eligible for the office of sheriff unless he has resided in the county for more than one whole year next before filing for said office whether he files by declaration of candidacy or by nominating petition. The time for such filing is on or before five p.m. on the last Tuesday of April preceding the primary. The clerk of the county court may refuse the filing of such a person who does not possess the requisite residency eligibility.

Opinion letter to Mr. Robert E. Myers

Opinion letter to the Honorable Hayden Morgan

Opinion letter to Mr. Dexter D. Davis

Opinion letter to Mr. G. L. Donahoe

1. The requirement of one year’s residence in the state as a condition to voting established by Article VIII, Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution and Section 111.021 RSMo 1969 is unconstitutional and void. 2. If the durational requirement of sixty days residence in a county, city or town as a condition to voting is held valid by the court in the case now pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, such duration of residence will be required as a condition for voting at the November election but such duration of residence is not required in order to vote at the preceding primary election. 3. Any otherwise qualified person who is a resident of the City of St. Louis at the time of registration, regardless of the duration of his residence, may register to vote at the primary at any time prior to 5:00 p.m. on the day preceding the primary election date as provided in Section 118.240, RSMo Supp. 1971. 4. The St. Louis City Election Board should register all residents of such city who apply before 5:00 p.m. on the day preceding the August 1972 primary date if they have all other constitutional qualifications. Such persons are entitled to vote in the 1972 primary.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Joe A. Johnson

Senate Bill No. 488 of the Second Regular Session of the General Assembly is unconstitutional because it authorizes the Senate and House of Representatives to determine, by resolution, the number of their officers and employees in excess of the limitations imposed by Article , Section 17 of the Missouri Constitution.

Opinion letter to the Honorable James C. Kirkpatrick

A coroner in a county of the fourth class does not have the authority to prepare and submit a certificate of death to the local registrar when a death has allegedly occurred in the county but the body of the decedent has not been discovered.

A fire protection district may enact a rule or regulation requiring all future firemen to reside within the fire protection district.

Opinion letter to Mr. James Flanagan

1. Under Section 168.126, RSMo 1969, a board of education need not give a probationary teacher ninety days notice prior to April 15 of its intention not to rehire the teacher because of incompetency in order to lawfully refuse to renew that probationary teacher’s contract for the next school year; 2. The time periods in Sections 168.116 and 168.126, RSMo 1969, should be computed on the basis of calendar days excluding the first day and including the last in accordance with Section 1.040, RSMo 1969.

Section 51.121, RSMo 1969, requiring the county clerk to inspect voting precincts and present a report to the county court and certain party officials is not applicable to counties in which there is registration under either Chapters 114 or 116, RSMo 1969 but in which there is not registration as provided for by both chapters.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Harold F. Reisch

Opinion letter to the Honorable Thomas D. Graham

1. A fire protection district in constitutional charter counties has authority to contract with another fire protection district for providing a joint fire and emergency dispatching service. The dispatching center which furnishes the dispatching service may hire a chief dispatcher but does not have authority to contract with a private corporation to furnish a chief dispatcher. 2. A chief dispatcher as required in Section 321.245, RSMo 1969, to be in charge of the operation and directly responsible to the management of the dispatching service is not required to be physically present twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. Such chief dispatcher must give his position his complete and undivided attention and may not engage in any other activities that would either consume any of the portion of the time required for him properly to function as chief dispatcher or which would in any respect interfere with his ability to perform his duties.

An individual who is not a member of the Missouri State Employees' Retirement System may inspect the records of the proceedings of the board of trustees of the system under the provisions of Section 104.480, RSMo 1969, for the purpose of determining how many members over the age of seventy years are employed by the state.

Opinion letter to the Honorable J. H. Frappier

A quit claim deed of release in full or partial satisfaction of a deed of trust is not subject to the user fee charge of one dollar by the recorder of deeds under Section 59.319, RSMo 1969.

Under subsection 3 of Section 167.151, RSMo 1969 (providing that a nonresident taxpayer must receive credit on tuition charged his child in an amount equal to the tax paid to the school district), school taxes paid in prior years or delinquent taxes paid in the current year may not be used as a credit against tuition charges for the current year. Furthermore, exceptional children, as defined by Section 178.260, RSMo 1969, whose parents are nonresident taxpayers of a district, are entitled to “appropriate instruction” in accordance with subsection 2 of Section 178.260, RSMo 1969.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Norman L. Merrell

Opinion letter to the Honorable Donald J. Gralike

Section 24, Article V of the Missouri Constitution prohibits magistrates from receiving any compensation for solemnizing marriages.

A junior college district in Missouri is an institution of higher education supported by public funds, as that term is used in Section 144.040.2, Senate Bill No. 72, Seventy sixth General Assembly; and Section 144.040, Senate Bill No. 72, Seventy-sixth General Assembly, which does not exempt institutions of higher education supported by public funds from collecting sales tax on retail sales made by them, is constitutional. Therefore, it is our opinion that every junior college district must collect state sales tax on retail sales it makes after September 28, 1971.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Lloyd J. Baker

A third class city with the Mayor-council form of government cannot abolish the office of collector and appoint a member of the city clerical staff or any other person to collect the city’s taxes. Under Section 77.370, RSMo 1969, a third class city with Mayor-council form of government can abolish by ordinance the office of city collector only when the city contracts for the collection of taxes by the county collector or township collector.

Opinion letter to Mr. Joseph Jaeger, Jr.

Opinion letter to Mr. James E. Schaeffner

Trustees of pension fund may make investments authorized by statutes without being restricted by constitutional limitations on investments by political corporations or subdivisions of the state.

Opinion letter to Mr. Robert E. Myers

The board of directors of a fire protection district may hold meetings and conduct its regular business and pass legally binding ordinances on Sunday.

A municipal library district has authority to issue general obligation bonds for the purchase of grounds or the erection of public library buildings or the improvement of existing buildings when authorized by a vote of two-thirds of the qualified electors of the district voting thereon.

A road district organized under the provisions of Sections 233.320 to 233.445, RSMo 1969, may issue bonds pursuant to Section 233.345, RSMo 1969, for the purpose of construction of a maintenance building for road machinery and equipment of the district.

The list of the names of applicants for absentee ballots posted by the election authority in a conspicuous place accessible to the public at the entrance of the office of the election authority should include the post-office address to which the ballot is to be sent, the street address in the application for an absentee ballot and the ward or precinct number given by the applicant.

The Governor of Missouri properly established the Missouri Law Enforcement Assistance Council by Executive Order. Such Council may properly determine the compensation and allowances of the Chairman.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Robert S. Wiley

Opinion letter to the Honorable J. Anthony Dill

Opinion letter to the Honorable Ray Lee Caskey

(1) Section 195.220, S.C.S.H.C.S.H.B. No. 69, General Assembly (RSMo Supp. 1971, 195.221), as it concerns the granting of parole from a state correctional institution of anyone who is convicted of selling, giving, or delivering a controlled substance as defined by newly enacted Chapter 195, affects only those persons sentenced pursuant to such chapter after the effective date of its passage. (2) Such section does not affect the administrative function of the Department of Corrections in reference to Section 216.355(1), RSMo. (3) An individual under supervision of the Board of Probation and Parole who was sentenced to the State Department of Corrections for selling, giving, or delivering a controlled substance pursuant to Chapter 195 is not to be given credit for parole time as time toward service of his sentence for application of the three-fourths rule, Section 216.355(1), RSMo 1969.

The governing boards of county, city-county and municipal libraries are vested with the administrative authority of such libraries and are not under the direction of the officers or governing bodies of such cities or counties.

Opinion letter to Mr. Charles O'Halloran

Arrangements among insurance companies to effectuate the price or any part thereof of competitive bids submitted by automotive repair shops is an unlawful restraint of trade in violation of Sections 416.020 and 416.040, RSMo 1969. However, any arrangement between insurance company and automotive repair shop whereby the former requires the latter to afford it discounts on specified work is not violative of Sections 416.020, 416.030, or 416.040, RSMo 1969, absent an arrangement among insurance companies to effectuate such a practice. Also, any arrangement among insurance companies to limit competitive bidding on automotive repair to only those automotive repair shops which agree to pre-conditioned limits on their competitive bid is violative of Sections 416.030 and 416.040, RSMo 1969, as an unlawful restraint of trade.

Railroad police licensed by the Superintendent of the State Highway Patrol under the provisions of Section 388.600, RSMo Supp. 1971, are exempt from regulation of the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners under the provisions of Section 84.340, RSMo 1969.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Maurice Schechter

A county clerk may refuse to place the name of a candidate he believes to be ineligible on the ballot and his action is subject to review by the courts. A person cannot have a residence for voting purposes only which is separate from his legal residence.