Missouri Attorney General Opinions

Opinion letter to The Honorable Harold L. Lowenstein

Opinion letter to The Honorable Al Nilges

Opinion letter to Dr. Arthur L. Mallory

Opinion letter to The Honorable Robert B. Langworthy

Opinion letter to Dr. James F. Antonio

Opinion letter to Mr. Fred A. Lafser

Opinion letter to The Honorable Gary D. Sharpe

Opinion letter to Senator Edwin L. Dirck

Opinion letter to The Honorable Estil Fretwell

Opinion letter to The Honorable Fred Lynn

The half percent increase in the employer's contribution to the unemployment compensation fund under § 288.123, RSMo Supp. 1980, is effective for the quarter following the ensuing quarter after any quarter in which the cash balance in the unemployment fund on any day is below 150 million dollars, but is not a cumulative increase.

Opinion letter to The Honorable George E. Murray

Opinion letter to Mr. Joseph Frappier

If a defendant is sentenced to serve concurrent sentences of unequal length under the present criminal code, he must have the shorter sentence run continuously with the longer sentence. The conditional release term on the shorter sentence should continue to run during the prison term on the longer sentence.

A defendant receiving concurrent sentences on offenses committed both before and after the enactment of the present criminal code, can be held in prison beyond his conditional release date on the code sentence until he is granted release on the 7/ 12ths date on the pre-code sentence. However, the conditional release term should continue to run simultaneously with any periods of incarceration on the longer concurrent pre-code sentence.

Opinion letter to The Honorable Edward D. Daniel

Depreciation is to be considered as an operating cost when calculating the average per capita cost of each type of care provided for residents of the Missouri Veteran's Home, pursuant to Section 42.110, RSMo 1978, and that depreciation also is to be included in determining the actual cost of care for such residents pursuant to the above statute.

Under the holding of State ex rel. Stewart v. King, 562 S.W. 2d 704 (Mo. App., K.C.D. 1978), an alderman of a fourth class city who abstains from voting, under § 79.130, RSMo, does not have his abstention counted as a vote.

It is within the power of the general assembly to pass substantive legislation aiding crime victims and to appropriate money therefor from general revenue. The general assembly also has the power to pass general legislation compensating crime victims from the proceeds of a pool of money originating from a surcharge on court costs and to require a defendant as part of his criminal punishment to compensate his victim.

Under the terms of § 137.073.3, RSMo Supp. 1980, if a library district is on a calendar year and the assessed valuation of real or real and personal property combined within the district has increased by ten percent or more over the prior year's valuation by action other than general reassessment, the tax rate set in 1980 must be lowered to the extent necessary to produce substantially the same amount of tax revenue as estimated in the library district's 1980 annual budget.

After a municipal election, the city council of a fourth class city must meet as soon as the results of the election can be declared, declare and certify such results, and allow the aldermen-elect to take office upon their taking the oath and qualifying. Such city has no authority to delay the aldermen-elect from taking office by ordinance provision delaying such date. A compensation increase passed with respect to such board of aldermen after the election and prior to the date the new aldermen take office to take effect when the new board of aldermen take office does not increase the compensation on that date of either the alderman-elect who was not previously an incumbent, the aldermen-elect who were incumbents, or the incumbents who were not up for election.

Opinion letter to The Honorable James F. Antonio

Opinion letter to Mr. J. H. Frappier

Premiums received by an insurer under a policy or contract issued in connection with qualified or except annuities under the Missouri deferred compensation program are excluded from the premium tax under the provisions of § 148.390, RSMo 1978.

Opinion letter to The Honorable Kaye Steinmetz

Counties where assistant prosecutors are employed under § 56.700, RSMo Supp. 1980, are responsible for the employer's share of social security taxes and for fringe benefits provided to other county employees.

Section 71.015, No. 1110, General Assembly, is not applicable to cities, towns, or villages located in first class charter counties. The provisions of § 71.860, RSMo, refer to repealed § 71.015, RSMo 1978, which still applies to cities, towns, or villages in first class charter counties.

Opinion letter to The Honorable John A. Birch

Opinion letter to The Honorable Emory Melton

Opinion letter to The Honorable William C. McIlroy

A “Las Vegas Night” held by a not-for-profit corporation constitutes gambling in violation of the provisions of Chapter 572, RSMo 1978; and that the corporation and its officers may be found in violation of §§ 572.030 or 572.040, RSMo 1978, which prohibit the promotion of gambling.

Opinion Letter to The Honorable James C. Kirkpatrick

Municipal police officers do not have the power to arrest ordinance violators outside the limits of the municipality, except when the officer is in “hot pursuit” of the violator and is an officer of the municipality in a first class county having a charter form of government or is an officer of a constitutional charter city which provides for such an exception, and, furthermore, municipal police officers holding a valid deputy sheriff's commission do not have power to arrest ordinance violators outside the municipal limits.

Opinion Letter to The Honorable William A. Peterson

Opinion Letter to The Honorable Wayne Goode

Opinion Letter to The Honorable Ralph Hedrick

A. A board of education may provide transportation to and from school for pupils who live less than three and one-half miles from school if the parents agree in writing to pay the actual cost of transporting the pupils. B. A board of education may not lease the school buses purchased from school district funds to a council for the purpose of transporting pupils who live less than three and one-half miles from school if the parents agree in writing to pay the actual cost of transporting the pupils.

Under § 589.040, RSMo Supp. 1980 , the Director of the Division of Corrections is to include, in the rehabilitation program for sexual assault offenders, all inmates who are presently serving sentences for sexual assault offenses, whether the imprisonment began prior or subsequent to the effective date of § 589.040, RSMo Supp. 1980.

Opinion Letter to The Honorable Truman E. Wilson

Opinion Letter to The Honorable Gary G. Sprick

Neither the Division of Professional Registration nor the Department of Consumer Affairs, Regulation and Licensing has the authority to employ, prohibit the employment of, discharge, supervise, set the salaries for, or otherwise control statutorily authorized employees of the Missouri Dental Board, including, in particular, investigators or inspectors; except, however, the Division of Professional Registration now possesses the authority to employ, direct and control personnel which provide the clerical and other staff services which relate solely to the issuance and renewal of licenses.

The funds designated by Senate Bill No. 679, § 2, General Assembly, are not in lieu of the twenty-five percent funding for reassessment provided by § 137.750.2(3), RSMo Supp. 1980 , and these funds may be spent for both general reassessment purposes and for ongoing assessment costs. Further, the county court need not approve expenditure of all money collected under Senate Bill No. 679, § 2. Finally, counties under township organization do not come within the provisions of Senate Bill No. 679 so that the present means of funding the costs of the assessment functions in these counties is not changed.

1. Regulations of the Personnel Advisory Board promulgated under § 36. 350, RSMo Supp. 1979, apply to all state agencies, merit and non-merit, except the University of Missouri. 2. Dismissal procedures under § 36.390.5, RSMo Supp. 1979, apply to non-merit agencies under § 36.390.7, RSMo Supp. 1979, unless they adopt similar procedures under § 36.390.8, RSMo Supp. 1979, except that such procedures need not apply to employees in policymaking positions, members of the military or law enforcement agencies or employees of academic institutions under § 36.390.8. 3. Agencies subject to § 36.390.7 and not excepted therefrom are not prohibited from changing from one procedure to another in the processing of dismissals. Any procedure so established by a non-merit agency does not need to be formulated as a rule under Chapter 536, RSMo 1978, unless otherwise required by a statute which is peculiar to that agency. 4. Section 36.510, RSMo Supp. 1979, is applicable to all state agencies except the University of Missouri. 5. Sections 36.350, 36.390, and 36.510 are not applicable to the legislative or judicial branches or to elective officials of the executive branch or to agencies having a bi-state character.

Opinion Letter to The Honorable William J. Hannah

It is lawful for a city or municipality to enact an ordinance prohibiting the sale of liquor on days of any special, county, township, city, town or municipal election.

Opinion Letter to The Honorable Marion G. Cairns