Missouri Attorney General Opinions

Opinion letter to Mr. Walter G. Sartorius

1. A school board may allocate to debt service for payment of bonds issued by the district part of the $1.25 which it can levy without voter approval pursuant to Section 11(b) of Article X, Missouri Constitution; 2. Should a future school board determine that the entire $1.25 must be allocated to the current operational expenses of the district, this school board must, pursuant to Section 164.161, RSMo 1969, provide for the collection of an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest and principal on the bonds and to retire them within twenty years.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Harold Dickson

Opinion letter to Mr. J. M. Wilson

Opinion letter to the Honorable John J. Johnson

Opinion letter to the Honorable Donald B. Clark

Opinion letter to the Honorable Thomas A. Walsh

Opinion letter to Arthur L. Mallory

Opinion letter to Arthur L. Mallory

Subsection 1 of Section 162.096, RSMo 1969, does not authorize the State Board of Education to reconsider after January 15, 1971, assignments of non-operating districts lawfully made prior to that date.

1. Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1971 providing for a Board of Environmental Control does not exceed the authority conferred by Section 26.540, RSMo 1969. 2. Reorganization Plans Numbers 2, 3 and 4 of 1971, placing the employees of certain agencies under the merit system, involve “changing the organization” of state agencies within the meaning of Section 26.540, RSMo 1969, as provided by such section. 3. Sections 26.500 to 26.540, inclusive, RSMo 1969, empower the Governor to remove from the merit system personnel of an agency of the executive department regardless of whether such personnel was placed under the system by prior legislation or through a plan for reorganization. 4. Section 26.530, RSMo 1969, does not constitute an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power to the executive branch. 5. The Governor may comply with the provisions of Section 26.530, RSMo 1969, in submitting a reorganization plan to the legislature by delivering such plan to the secretary of the senate and the chief clerk of the house during a regular session of the legislature.

Opinion letter to the Honorable George P. Dames

Opinion letter to the Honorable James G. Gregory

Opinion letter to the Honorable J. H. Frappier

Opinion letter to the Honorable Harold L. Volkmer

A county clerk is not authorized to deliver an absentee ballot in person at a place other than his office and that the delivery of an absentee ballot in person at a place other than his office is a violation of the absentee voting laws of Missouri and constitutes a misdemeanor.

Section 111.171, RSMo 1969, prohibits the secretary or treasurer of a county committee, whether a member of the committee or not, from serving as an election judge or clerk in elections in which the county is involved.

A dentist may legally perform biopsies and diagnose malignant growths of surfaces inside the oral cavity.

Opinion letter to Mr. J. E. Riney

Opinion letter to the Honorable Thomas A. Walsh

Opinion letter to the Honorable Don Owens

Opinion letter to the Honorable Ray Lee Caskey

Opinion letter to Mr. J. E. Riney , Chairman

Opinion letter to the Honorable John E. Parrish

Opinion letter to Mr. Joseph Jaeger, Jr.

A taxpayer who refuses to pay Missouri state income tax can be prosecuted for a misdemeanor pursuant to Section 143.330(4), RSMo 1969.

Opinion letter to the Honorable E. J. Cantrell

A person who holds an unassigned certificate of purchase from a tax sale made in 1963 does not have a lien on the real estate described in the certificate, if such real estate is again sold for delinquent taxes in 1970 or subsequent years.

1. The amendments to Section 11(c) of Article X of the Missouri Constitution adopted by the voters on November 3, 1970, apply to junior college districts organized under Sections 178.770 through 178.890, RSMo 1969. 2. Pursuant to Section 11(c) of Article X of the Missouri Constitution, the tax rate for school purposes approved by the voters of a junior college district in 1970 will apply in 1971 (a) provided the board of trustees of the district does not propose a higher tax rate for 1971, and does not levy a lower tax rate for 1971 than that approved by the voters for 1970, or (b) if the board of trustees proposes a higher tax rate for 1971 than that approved by the voters for 1970, and the proposal is defeated by the qualified voters of the district.

Opinion letter to the Honorable C. M. Bassman

Opinion letter to the Honorable Ray S. James

Opinion letter to the Honorable D. R. Osbourn

The County Court of Cape Girardeau County may, pursuant to Section 49.310, RSMo, erect a jail at the site referred to as "The Cape Girardeau County Farm" located in the City of Cape Girardeau .

The county treasurer in a third class county not under township organization is entitled to the additional compensation provided for in Section 54.275, RSMo 1969, in addition to the compensation provided for under Section 54.260, RSMo 1969.

Opinion letter to Mr. Joseph Jaeger, Jr.

A petition to incorporate a city or town under Section 72.080, RSMo 1969, may be filed at any time but a city or town may not be incorporated under this section unless and until the county court is satisfied that the petition is signed by a majority of the taxable inhabitants at the time the town or city is declared to be incorporated.

The State of Missouri is required to be a self-insurer with respect to employees of the Division of Mental Health under the Workmen's Compensation Law.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Joe D. Holt

The bequests to Father Edward Roche, Father Gregory Wooler and Sister Reginald Wollenshlager provided in Article , (3), (4) and (5), respectively, of the Last Will and Testament of Bess E. Wollenshlager , deceased, are not exempt from Missouri Inheritance Tax by virtue of Section 145.100, RSMo 1969. They constitute taxable transfers under Section 145.020, RSMo 1969.

The Director of Revenue is required to accept and process motor vehicle accident reports involving death, personal injury or property damage in excess of one hundred dollars submitted at any time by persons connected with such accidents.

Section 164.021, RSMo 1969, provides that a certain number of voters in a school district may petition the school board requesting that a proposal to raise the school tax rate be submitted to the voters. Upon receipt of a petition in compliance with subsection 1 of Section 164.021, RSMo 1969, the school board must determine the rate of taxation necessary to be levied in excess of the authorized rate but the board is not required to submit the rate, if any, proposed in the petition.

1. A six-director school district may enter into an agreement whereby a school bus is acquired by monthly payments so long as the district's obligation thereunder does not exceed income available for the calendar year in which the debt is contracted. 2. The obligation of a school district to return the school bus under the circumstances set forth in the agreement in question would be a "lien" or "encumbrance" under Sections 301.190, 301.600 and 301.620, RSMo 1969, and should be noted on the certificate of ownership. 3. A six-director school district may agree to pay, in addition to monthly payments, insurance premiums for property damage and liability insurance covering the buses except that the district may not use public funds to purchase liability insurance covering its own negligence.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Richard M. Webster

The General Assembly may not constitutionally condition ratification of an amendment to the United States Constitution on approval by the voters.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Maurice Schechter

Opinion letter to the Honorable Kenneth J. Rothman