Missouri Attorney General Opinions

Opinion letter to the Honorable Thomas R. Gilmore

Opinion letter to the Honorable Haskell Holman

Opinion letter to the Honorable F. L. Brenton

Opinion letter to the Honorable Leon M. Jordan

The General Business and Corporation Law of Missouri, which permits corporations to be organized for any lawful purpose, does not authorize the organization of a corporation to engage in the practice of chiropody-podiatry where a statute regulating such practice contemplates only the licensing of individuals.

The City of Brentwood has the authority under Sections 71.680 and 71.690, RSMo, to charge and collect an annual fee for the collection of rubbish, and as a matter of convenience to bill for the fee on the annual real estate bill, so long as it is not considered and treated as a real estate tax.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Joe D. Holt

Subject to restrictions set forth in Section 177.101, RSMo Supp. 1967, the Doniphan R-I School District may enter into an agreement with the State Inter-Agency Council for Outdoor Recreation for a grant-in-aid from the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund to assist the school district in the purchase of a school-community park.

Opinion letter to the Honorable James C. Kirkpatrick

Opinion letter to Dexter D. Davis

The General Assembly may, in its discretion, set a special election date for a vote on a measure which has been referred to a vote of the people by a proper referendum petition.

Opinion letter to the Honorable L. Edward Stone, Jr.

(1) Clay County can contract with the municipalities of Clay County to extend the taxes for said municipalities. (2) The County Clerk of Clay County has the discretionary authority to decide whether he will enter into a cooperative agreement with a municipality of Clay County to provide a common service pursuant to cooperative agreement statute; and assuming that the clerk of Clay County decides to enter such a contract, the contract must be taken before the county court of Clay County for approval. (3) Any consideration paid pursuant to a cooperative agreement contract for the extension of taxes between the county clerk of Clay County and the municipalities of Clay County must be paid into the county treasury.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Joseph Jaeger, Jr.

The Boone County Court has no authority to convey by gift to the Boone County Agricultural and Mechanical Society real property belonging to the county.

House Committee Substitute for Senate Substitute for Senate Bills Nos. 1, 185 and 215 of the General Assembly is not unconstitutional in violation of Article , Section 23, Missouri Constitution.

Opinion letter to the Honorable R. M. Becker

Opinion letter to Mr. Joseph Jaeger

Opinion letter to the Honorable William H. Wessel

Opinion letter to the Honorable John J. Johnson

Opinion letter to the Honorable Charles S. Broomfield

The authority of the Director of the State Records Commission under the State Records Law in microfilming records is limited to microfilming records which are to be stored or preserved, and it does not apply to microfilming records used currently by state agencies.

State Records Act does not apply to: (1) Kansas City Police Board, (2) Kansas City Election Board, (3) Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, (4) Kansas – Missouri Air Conservation Commission, (5) “Bi- State Metropolitan Development District”. State Records Act applies to: (1) Air Conservation Commission, (2) Crippled Children’s Service, (3) Bridge Commissions.

There is nothing in the Missouri Constitution or statutes or the United States Constitution prohibiting the placing of student teachers in parochial or private schools as part of the student teaching programs at Northeast Missouri State College.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Lawrence J. Lee

Opinion letter to Mr. J. Warren Head

A fourth class city fire chief who sells equipment and services to such city through a company owned in whole or in part by him violates Section 106.300, RSMo 1959, which prohibits city officers from being directly or indirectly interested in city contracts.

Section 21.150, RSMo Supp. 1967, which allows the members of the minority party of the House of Representatives to employ one stenographer or secretary for each five members of the minority party is not unconstitutional when tested by the “one man-one vote” principle as articulated by the Supreme Court of the United States.

An opinion with respect to House Bill No. 35 of the General Assembly (Sections 483.530 and 483.540, V.A.M.S.) relative to numerous questions concerning the fees of clerks of certain courts of criminal correction, circuit and common pleas courts.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Haskell Holman

Opinion letter to Mr. G. L. Donahoe

A person may file for election as a Committeeman or Committeewoman and also file an additional declaration of candidacy for another state or county office.

Opinion letter to the Honorable H. Avery

1. It is within the police power for the state to enact zoning laws restricting the use of property when reasonably necessary for the promotion of public health, safety, morals and general welfare. 2. That if such law is necessary for the promotion of the public health, safety, morals and general welfare, it does not constitute the taking of private property without due process of law in violation of Article 1, Sections 10, 26, 27 and 28 of the Constitution. 3. Whether the proposed act creating the Missouri Scenic Rivers System is reasonable and necessary for the promotion of the public health, safety, morals and general welfare depends upon the facts and evidence – which will have to be determined by a court.

Committeemen and committee-women of both political parties are not qualified to serve as election judges and clerks under the terms of Section 111.171, V.A.M.S., 1969-70 Cum. Supp.

1. A county clerk, pursuant to Section 111.111, Senate Bill No. 134, General Assembly, need not designate a polling place in each ward of a class city but must designate a polling place in each precinct or election district in a class city. 2. If a precinct or election district includes part of a school district lying within a city and part outside of the city, a county clerk may designate one polling place in the city within the precinct or election district. 3. The location of a polling place within a precinct or election district is within the discretion of the county clerk. 4. A county clerk pursuant to Section 111.111 is not required to establish a polling place in Ward 1 or Ward 2 of Forsyth but is required to designate a polling place in each precinct or election district in Forsyth . Whether it is necessary to establish another polling place for people living outside of Forsyth but in the Forsyth school district depends on whether these people live in the same precincts and election districts located in Forsyth .

Opinion letter to the Honorable Donald J. Gralike

With respect to Paragraph 3 of Section 57.407 and Paragraph 3 of Section 57.409, V.A.M.S. (Senate Bill No. 165, General Assembly), which require that the sheriffs of third and fourth class counties pay fees collected by them in civil matters into the county treasury, except the charges for each mile traveled, that such sheriffs are not to collect charges for services where such charges are payable out of the county treasury.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Noel

Opinion letter to the Honorable George W. Parker

Opinion letter to L. M. Garner, M.D.

Opinion letter to Mr. Hubert Wheeler

(1) The signers of a given sheet of a referendum petition are not required to reside in the same congressional district and a signature on a referendum petition would not be invalid because the petition purports to come from a congressional district in which the signer does not reside; (2) a petition that omits the county in which a signer resides or incorrectly states the county in which a signer resides is not invalid and signatures should not be disqualified on that account; (3) the Attorney General or a prosecuting attorney has no authority to act to prevent the filing of petitions that appear to contain forged signatures; the Secretary of State’s function in filing petitions is ministerial and he has no authority to reject signatures that appear forged; (4) those same officials have no authority to ascertain whether or not a copy of the bill to be referred was attached to a referendum petition, and therefore may not act to prevent the filing of a petition on the ground that a copy of the bill allegedly was not attached at the time the petition was circulated; (5) a notary may witness the sworn statement of a circulator when the notary has also signed the sheet of the petition which he notarizes; (6) a notary may notarize petitions in any part of the state in which he has authority to act as a notary, there being no requirement that referendum petitions be notarized in the county in which they are circulated.

The circuit clerk of a second class county must keep safe and have readily available for payment $25,000 deposited in court by the parties pending the outcome of litigation. The clerk, in keeping these funds safe, can deposit such funds in a demand deposit or a time deposit, so long as the money is readily available for payment. This can be done on the clerk’s own initiative or upon consent of both parties by written agreement. The clerk can also invest in other interest-bearing accounts when done pursuant to court order. The clerk can only pay the funds and the interest earned from investment of the funds as directed by the court. The clerk must also adhere to the requirements of Section 483.312, RSMo 1959.

Pursuant to § 557.390, RSMo 1959, an individual,allegedly absent without leave from the military detained by civilian law enforcers is "lawfully imprisoned or detained . . . upon any criminal charge . . . for the violation of any penal statute," and may be convicted for escaping from such detention.

Because of the absence of constitutional or statutory provisions requiring that a deputy county clerk be a resident of the county in which he or she serves, it is permissible for such person to reside in another county in this state.

Section 564.630, RSMo Supp. 1967, requires that a retail dealer in firearms purchasing a concealable firearm from another such retail dealer or from a person who is neither a wholesaler nor a manufacturer must obtain and deliver to the seller a permit authorizing such retail dealer to purchase the concealable firearm.

A person may be appointed as a policeman in a fourth class city who is not a resident of such city.

Opinion letter to the Honorable William Y. McCaskill

The Secretary of the Missouri Real Estate Commission is prohibited from engaging in the real estate practice.