Missouri Attorney General Opinions

Opinion letter to the Honorable John P.

A declaration of candidacy which contains a misstatement of the office being sought may not be corrected or amended subsequent to the filing deadline of five p.m. on the last Tuesday in April preceding the primary election.

The approval of the county auditor is necessary before the county court of a second class county can order payment of a claim against the county out of the county treasury and issue a warrant for such payment, and the county court has the further power to determine whether such a claim shall be paid.

Property owned by a corporate unit of the Girl Scouts of America which is used regularly, completely and exclusively for charitable purposes, is exempt from taxation under the constitution and laws of the state.

A city of the fourth class may not charge an occupational tax on driver's license fees collected by agents of the Department of Revenue who are acting under the authority of Section 136.055, RSMo Cum. Supp. 1967.

An individual employed full time as a deputy sheriff of Buchanan County may serve as a member of the Municipal Excise Board for the City of St. Joseph.

An employee of a manufacturing company who regularly drives a company owned pick-up truck, with tools and instruments, with tool chests mounted in the bed of the pick-up truck for performance of his various tasks, and who also carries replacement parts in the back of the pick-up, who makes the rounds of the various machines which he must inspect and service at least once a week regularly drives a commercial motor vehicle of another, that he is acting as a chauffeur as defined in the third definition of Section 302.010 (1), RSMo Supp. 1967, and may be prosecuted for a misdemeanor if he so operates such vehicle without having a proper chauffeur's license.

The county court has the duty of paying the statutory fees as set out in Section 65.240, RSMo Supp. 1967, Section 65.245, RSMo 1959, and Section 261.070, RSMo 1959, to the township assessors and that the State Tax Commission has no authority to order the county court to withhold payments of such fees because the Tax Commission believes the property valuations of such assessors are too low.

In county of class three the county court may, on recommendation of the county clerk, transfer funds from the emergency fund to the road and bridge fund, but only for unforeseen emergencies and only on a unanimous vote of the county court.

Privately owned pickup truck used in responding to calls for emergency service by motorists of stalled or disabled vehicles, which truck has only standard equipment put on at factory, without equipment for hoisting or towing vehicles at roadside, is not a "wrecker" or "tow truck" within meaning of Section 304.022, Paragraph 3, Subparagraph 3, RSMo. 1959.

It is therefore the opinion of this office that: (a) After an operator of a freight-carrying motor vehicle claiming the exemption from Public Service Commission regulation provided by Section 390.030 (8), RSMo, is apprehended with a gross weight in excess of six thousand pounds, he may remove the excess weight and proceed without being in violation of Section 301.070, RSMo, for such continued travel. Although he is liable to prosecution for having operated an improperly licensed vehicle, the exemption of the vehicle under Section 390.030 is not lost by reason of an isolated instance of operating a freight-carrying motor vehicle with a gross weight of more than six thousand pounds. (b) The licensing and registration of a commercial motor vehicle may be changed from time to time to coincide with the use to which it is intended to be put. An owner having no further use for a license authorizing a gross weight of twelve thousand pounds may relinquish it and secure a license authorizing a gross weight not in excess of six thousand pounds.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Joe J. Taylor

Opinion letter to the Honorable Bob F. Griffin

The Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis may not lawfully transfer the jurisdiction, custody and operation of the jury assembly room in the Civil Courts Building in the City of St. Louis from the sheriff to the jury commissioner of said City.

The phrase and letters, “(Mr. Econ CDOSA )” cannot appear on the ballot because they are purely descriptive.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Bernard W. Gorman

Opinion letter to the Honorable Charles H. Dickey, Jr.

The prosecuting attorney of a third class county is required to represent a county board of education created under Section 162.111, RSMo Cum. Supp. 1967.

The City Charter of Kansas City, Missouri, cannot be amended by a vote of the people so as to authorize the imposition of a one per cent earnings tax by Kansas City without enabling legislation by the Missouri General Assembly.

The total amount of the monthly water bills paid by patrons of Public Water Supply District No. 2, of Barton County, are subject to the State Sales Tax.

"True name" as used in Section 375.012, subsection (2), RSMo Cum. Supp. 1967, means a person's actual and not fictitious name and includes a surname, a first name, and a middle name or initial.

General county revenue funds may be budgeted and expended for the purchase of road machinery, repair and upkeep of bridges other than on state highways and not in special road districts, and for the construction and maintenance of roads.

(1) The county is not obligated to pay the medical bills of an indigent defendant who sustains injury during the commission of a crime and is hospitalized for said injury; (2) The county court does have authority to make payment of hospital bills of indigent defendants, but the payment may not be taxed as costs in the criminal case; and (3) Hospital bills incurred by an indigent defendant during the commission of the crime may not be taxed as costs in the criminal case.

Opinion letter to Mr. Hubert Wheeler

1. The sections of the Revised Statutes of Missouri which govern the procedure to be used in the handling of nomination petitions of persons who seek election to the Board of Education of the City of St. Louis as independent candidates are Sections 120.180 through 120.220, RSMo 1959, as amended. 2. The petitions are to be filed with the Board of Education for the St. Louis City School District.

Oleomargarine made and manufactured from the ingredients, commodities or combinations thereof, named and set forth in Section 561.770, RSMo 1959, may be sold or offered for sale only when the containers or cartons thereof have printed thereon the word “oleomargarine.”

Fire protection districts may pension firemen on vote of people. Section 67.200, RSMo Supp. 1967, has no application to Section 321.220, RSMo Supp. 1967.

Opinion letter to Mr. Donald J. Gralike

Counties may expend funds to provide quarters for community action agencies operating under the federal Economic Opportunity Act.

The “one percent a month on unpaid balances” interest rate limitation as expressed in Section 370.300, RSMo 1959, is an exception to the general usury statute. The interest rate limitations of Section 408.030, RSMo 1959, and Section 408.100, RSMo 1959, do not apply to credit union loans and credit unions may legally charge up to “* * * one percent a month on unpaid balances; provided, however, that a minimum interest charge not exceeding twenty-five cents per month shall be allowable in all cases.”

The same individual cannot serve in the dual capacity of coroner and deputy sheriff because the two offices are incompatible.

The names of candidates in an election “in any six-director school district located wholly within a city having a population of more than two hundred thousand and less than seven hundred thousand” shall be listed on voting machines in the order that is prescribed by the appropriate board of election commissioners and that said board may use its discretion in determining what that order shall be.

Opinion letter to the Honorable James C. Kirkpatrick

Opinion letter to the Honorable Robert D. Scharz

The National Senior Citizens Benevolent Association is engaging in the business of insurance in the State of Missouri. The Articles of Agreement and the Contributing Death Benefit Certificate clearly show that the purpose of this association is to provide insurance for its members in fact, if not in name.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Jerry Graves

When the voters approve registration under Chapter 116, the county clerk should commence the registration processes as soon as is reasonably possible. Under Section 116.050, the county clerk has the discretion to designate the number and places of temporary registration as provided by statute. The city councils determine the precincts. In order to register, the voters must apply for registration at the clerk's office or such places of temporary registration as the clerk may designate.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Thomas W. Shannon

Opinion letter to the Honorable J. Anthony Dill

Since the assessed valuation of DeKalb County was determined to be more than $20,000,000 by the State Tax Commission in its complete report dated December 31, 1966, the Prosecuting Attorney of DeKalb County is entitled to the compensation authorized by Section 56.291, RSMo Cum. Supp. 1965, for counties with an assessed valuation of more than $20,000,000 for services performed on or after January 1, 1967.

Senate Bill No. 166 of the General Assembly does not prevent existing school districts from changing their boundaries under the provisions of Section 162.431, RSMo Supp. 1965.

(1) Warrant may be issued on a complaint without information in fourth class city unless offense is traffic offense. (2) Warrant cannot be issued for traffic offense without information in fourth class city. (3) Not necessary for city attorney in fourth class city be present in court in absence of an ordinance.

Private citizen may arrest without warrant for felony or petty larceny committed in his presence.

Tax monies raised under Section 137.555, RSMo 1959, can only be spent for use on county roads and bridges, but may not be spent on bridges within a special road district. Expenditure of these funds is limited to those purposes specified by statute.

There is no act of nepotism in the appointing by the prosecuting attorney as his secretary the daughter of a county judge. The act of nepotism arises from the fact that the appointing officer who "names or appoints the employee" is, himself, related to the employee within the prohibited degree defined by statute. Inasmuch as there is no private business action which is involved where a prosecuting attorney appoints as secretary a woman who is the daughter of a county judge, there is no violation of the conflict of interest statutes found in Sections 105.450 to and including 105.495, RSMo Supp. 1965. The "principles of public policy" are not violated by the appointing by a prosecuting attorney as his secretary the daughter of a county judge.

The Commissioner of Finance may process first either the application first received or the application first completed. He may exercise his discretion as to which will be processed first without prejudice to either party.

Points assessed for failure to wear helmet.

Opinion letter to the Honorable Charles L. Bailey

The requirements of Section 57.220, RSMo, requiring that the number of deputy sheriffs in a second class county be not less than one chief deputy sheriff and one additional deputy for each five thousand inhabitants of the county, are met by the appointment of a chief deputy, five “full-time” deputies and four “half- time” deputies in a second class county with a population of 42,020.

It is the opinion of this office that territory annexed to a third class city which maintains a free public library supported by taxation pursuant to annexation proceedings pending on October 13, 1965, ceases to be a part of a county library district in which such territory was located prior to such annexation and becomes part of the municipal library district.