Missouri Attorney General Opinions

Opinion letter to the Honorable Jack E. Gant

Opinion letter to Mr. Bert Shulimson

Opinion letter to Mr. Charles A. Shaffer

Opinion letter to Dr. Arthur L. Mallory

Opinion letter to the Honorable Robert Fowler

Opinion letter to the Honorable Keith Barbero

A foreign judgment filed for registration under the provisions of Supreme Court Rule 74.79 is not a final judgment required to be abstracted under the provisions of Supreme Court Rules 74.76 and 74.77 until the court in which said foreign judgment is filed for registration shall enter a final judgment as provided under Rule 74.79.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Christopher S. Bond

Opinion letter to the Honorable Donald L. Manford

1. All records pertaining to the case of a defendant who has been nolle prossed, dismissed, or found not guilty in the court in which the action is prosecuted, and not merely the name of the defendant, must be removed from the records of the trial court which are available to the public, and must be kept in separate records which are to be held confidential. Where possible, pages of the public records should be retyped or rewritten, omitting those portions of the records which deal with such a defendant’s case; however, where retyping or rewriting is not feasible because of the permanent nature of the record book, such record entries may be “blacked out” and recopied in a confidential record book. But the records of an appellate court which reverses a conviction and remands the case to the trial court are not to be closed, even if the case is nolle prossed, dismissed, or results in a finding of not guilty on remand. 2. The obligation to advise persons and agencies holding records pertaining to the case of a defendant who has been nolle prossed, dismissed, or found not guilty, rests upon those who are aware that such persons and agencies possess such records, and who are aware of the outcome of the case. Primarily this responsibility devolves upon the prosecuting attorney. 3. Law enforcement agencies are required to maintain confidential records of matters which are required to be closed, as well as the public records which such agencies maintain on all other matters.

Addendum to Opinion No. 42

The positions of director of a special school district and director of a six director district which is a component part of that special school district are incompatible and one person may not hold both positions at the same time.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Christopher S. Bond

Opinion letter to the Honorable Christopher S. Bond

Opinion letter to the Honorable Raymond Howard

Opinion letter to the Honorable Arthur T. Stephenson

Article , Section 13 of the Constitution prevents the compensation of an elected city treasurer from being increased during the term of office of such city treasurer, notwithstanding the fact that Section 182.291, V.A.M.S., makes the city treasurer custodian of the funds of a city-county library district. A city-county library district has no authority to compensate the city treasurer for serving as custodian of the library district’s funds.

Subsection 2 of Section 4, C.C.S.S.B. No. 1, General Assembly (Sunshine Bill), excludes the information required to be filed by the Commissioner of Agriculture Rules 2.06 and 2.07 from being “public records” open to the public. It is our further opinion that the legislature in subsection 5 of Section 4 of the “Sunshine Bill” intended to exclude the information filed pursuant to Rules 2.06 and 2.07 as “public records” open to the public.

In cities and counties governed by Sections 114.011-114.146, RSMo Supp. 1973: 1. The boards of nursing home districts and the boards of hospital districts may not designate voting precincts. The precincts for elections of those political subdivisions are those established by the governing bodies of cities or by county courts pursuant to Section 114.116, RSMo Supp. 1973. The boards of nursing home districts and hospital districts may not consolidate such precincts. 2. When a political subdivision other than a county holds an election, absentee ballots are to be furnished to voters by the political subdivision.

With respect to cities and counties which are required to maintain a system of voter registration under Sections 114.011 – 114.146, RSMo Supp. 1973: 1. A city may designate election precincts pursuant to Section 114.116, RSMo Supp. 1973, without regard to the ward boundaries of such city, and may make the entire city one voting precinct; but a city located in more than one county must establish at least one election precinct in each such county. 2. A political subdivision encompassing more than one precinct, or parts of more than one precinct, must establish a polling place within each such precinct when conducting an election, except where the political subdivision is specifically entitled by law to consolidate precincts for that election and such consolidation will not interfere with the precinct system of voting in any other political subdivision which conducts an election on the same day. 3. In cases where there are not sufficient voters in a precinct to staff a polling place, an election conducted by less than the number of statutorily required officials is valid. If no one can be found in that part of a political subdivision within a precinct who will serve as an election official, election officials may be appointed for such precinct from elsewhere in the political subdivision.

Section 111.111, RSMo 1969, applies only to situations where a general, primary or special election of the state or a county an election by a political subdivision are held on the same day.

With respect to cities and counties which are required to maintain a system of voter registration under Sections 114.011-114.146, RSMo Supp. 1973: 1. Absent a specific statutory provision to the contrary, a political subdivision conducting an election may have a polling place outside the boundaries of the political subdivision, provided that there is one polling place in each precinct in the political subdivision. 2. Any time two or more political subdivisions overlap within the same precinct and conduct elections on the same day, they must select a common polling place within the precinct, and the county clerk must provide the precinct registration records at the place so designated. If the political subdivisions involved cannot agree on a common polling place, the county clerk shall designate the polling place for the political subdivisions. 3. If two or more political subdivisions within an established precinct have an election on the same day and the districts do not overlap, the common polling place may, if necessary, be located beyond the political boundaries of one or more of the subdivisions; and to the extent that Section 162.371 or any other similar statute is to the contrary, it is deemed to have been implicitly repealed by Sections 114.011, 114.146. If the political subdivisions involved cannot agree on a common polling place, the county clerk shall designate the polling place for the political-subdivisions.

The Department of Conservation is subject to the provisions of Sections 8.310, RSMo 1969, and Section 8.320, RSMo 1969, and accordingly must obtain the formal approval of the Commissioner of Administration before letting contracts for repair, rehabilitation or construction of state facilities. The Department of Conservation is not required to obtain the formal approval of the Commissioner of Administration before obtaining architectural documents, supervising construction, and performing inspection and maintenance, but its procedures in carrying out these activities must conform to the reasonable procedures outlined by the Commissioner of Administration, pursuant to his authority under Section 8.320, RSMo 1969.

Opinion letter to the Honorable W. O. Howard

Opinion letter to the Honorable Russell G. Brockfeld , Honorable Schnatmeier , Honorable Fred Dyer and Honorable George P. Dames

A member of the board of trustees of a city hospital of a third class city established pursuant to the provisions of Sections 96.150, RSMo et seq., may be removed under the procedures provided by Section 77.340, RSMo. Such trustees being city officers within the meaning of Section 77.400, RSMo, are within the conflict of interest provisions of Section 77.470, RSMo.

Any balance remaining in a school district's free textbook fund after textbooks are furnished to all eligible pupils as required in Section 170.051, RSMo 1969, as amended, may be transferred to the teachers' fund as required by Section 165.011, subsection 2, RSMo 1969, without conflicting with the restriction on commingling free textbook funds with the public school fund as set forth in subsection 7 of Section 170.051, Seventy-Sixth General Assembly, Second Regular Session.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Harold Dickson

Opinion letter to the Honorable Don Manford

(1) The five-year additional parole period provided in Section 195.221, RSMo Supp. 1971, does not apply to persons convicted under Section 195.240, RSMo Supp. 1971, of selling, giving or delivering apparatus for the unauthorized use of controlled substances. (2) The parole of individuals convicted under Section 195.240, RSMo Supp. 1971, for selling, giving or delivering apparatus for the unauthorized use of a controlled substance should be governed by the provision of Chapter 549, RSMo 1969.

A third class city located in a county which does not have a board of election commissioners may designate the number of election precincts within the boundaries of the municipality.

Opinion letter to the Honorable David Q. Reed

Opinion letter to the Honorable James C. Kirkpatrick

Opinion letter to the Honorable Jack Gallego

A physical examination, in order to qualify as an examination raising the statutory presumption of evidence provided in Section 87.006, RSMo 1969, must be a medical examination given by a qualified physician which is directed to the detection of disease of the lungs or respiratory tract, hypotension, hypertension or disease of the heart, such that the examination, with reasonable medical certainty, will reveal the absence of disease of the lungs or respiratory tract, hypotension, hypertension or disease of the heart.

Opinion letter to the Honorable William J. Cason

Opinion letter to the Honorable Charles M. LeCompte

1. If one spouse who is eligible to receive a property tax credit under Sections 135.010 through 135.030, RSMo Supp. 1973, dies before the end of the calendar year for which the credit is to be claimed, the surviving spouse is entitled to credit only if such surviving spouse can personally fulfill the requirements for claiming a credit as an individual. Specifically, the surviving spouse must have attained the age of sixty-five on or before the last day of the calendar year for which the credit is claimed. 2. The personal representative of a deceased person who was eligible to claim the tax credit is entitled to receive the credit, if the deceased person survived to the end of the year for which the credit is claimed, unless the credit is properly claimed by the deceased person’s surviving spouse.

The notice requirements for special school elections set out in Section 162.061, RSMo 1969, are satisfied by official notices published twenty-five and eighteen days before an election.

Opinion letter to Dr. Arthur L. Mallory

The amount of compensation to be allowed a county clerk in a third class county to employ deputies and assistants under Section 51.450, RSMo 1969, is determined by compensation of the county clerk as provided in Section 51.300, RSMo Supp. 1973, and the compensation provided under Section 51.310, RSMo Supp. 1973, is not included.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Larry R. Marshall

With respect to the Solid Waste Management Law, Senate Bill No. 387, General Assembly [Sections 260.200-260.245, RSMo Supp. 1973], cities and counties are required to provide for the collection and disposal of solid wastes including industrial wastes and may contract for such collection and disposal. Service charges may be imposed if not already imposed under some other law although such charges must be billed and collected directly by the cities or counties. General revenue of the city and federal revenue sharing funds may also be expended for such purposes.

The Joint Resolution (House Committee Substitute for Senate Concurrent Resolution, No. 2, House Journal First Extra Session, Sixteenth Day) of the Missouri General Assembly purporting to regulate parking facilities on the Capitol grounds and in the Capitol garage is invalid to the extent that it conflicts with the statutory authority of the Office of Administration to regulate parking upon the Capitol grounds but is valid to the extent that it regulates parking in the facility whose construction was authorized by House Bill No. 75 (Laws 1961, p. 568). Said resolution, not having the force and effect of law and being administrative in nature is not required to be approved by the Governor and is not precluded from adoption in a special session.

Taxes may be levied by the governing body of a county on behalf of a fire protection district at the time required by law for levy of taxes for county purposes, whether or not the board of such district has certified its rate of levy to the county governing body by May 15. The tax may be imposed for a full year, although the district in question was formed after January 1.

The expungement of records authorized by Section 195.290, RSMo Supp. 1971, requires the physical destruction of such records.