Missouri 2022 2022 Regular Session

Missouri House Bill HB1606 Substitute / Bill

Filed 04/27/2022

                    3703S.07F 
 1 
SENATE SUBSTITUTE 
FOR 
SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE 
FOR 
HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE 
FOR 
HOUSE BILL NO. 1606 
AN ACT 
To repeal sections 50.327, 50.800, 50.810, 50.815, 
50.820, 55.160, 58.095, 58.200, 140.170, 140.190, 
304.022, and 473.742, RSMo, and to enact in lieu 
thereof ten new sections relating to county 
officials, with penalty provisions. 
 
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows: 
     Section A. Sections 50.327, 50.800, 50.810, 50.815, 1 
50.820, 55.160, 58.095, 58.200, 140.170, 140.190, 304.022, and 2 
473.742, RSMo, are repealed and ten new sections enacted in 3 
lieu thereof, to be known as sections 50.327, 50.815, 50.820, 4 
55.160, 58.095, 58.200, 140.170, 140.190, 304.022, and 473.742, 5 
to read as follows:6 
     50.327.  1.  Notwithstanding any other provisions of 1 
law to the contrary, the salary schedules contained in 2 
sections 49.082, 50.334, 50.343, 51.281, 51.282, 52.269, 3 
53.082, 53.083, 54.261, 54.320, 55.091, 56.265,  58.095, and  4 
473.742 shall be set as a base schedule for those county 5 
officials.  Except when it is necessary to increase newly 6 
elected or reelected county officials' salaries, in  7 
accordance with Section 13, Article VII, Constitution of 8 
Missouri, to comply with the requirements of this section, 9 
the salary commission in all counties except charter 10 
counties in this state shall be responsible for the 11 
computation of salaries of al l county officials; provided, 12   
 2 
however, that any percentage salary adjustments in a county 13 
shall be equal for all such officials in that county. 14 
     2.  Upon majority approval of the salary commission, 15 
the annual compensation of part -time prosecutors contained  16 
in section 56.265 and the county offices contained in 17 
sections 49.082, 50.334, 50.343, 51.281, 51.282, 52.269, 18 
53.082, 53.083, 54.261, 54.320, 55.091, 58.095, and 473.742 19 
may be increased by up to two thousand dollars greater than 20 
the compensation provided by the salary schedules; provided, 21 
however, that any vote to increase compensation be effective 22 
for all county offices in that county subject to the salary 23 
commission. 24 
     3.  Upon the majority approval of the salary 25 
commission, the annu al compensation of a county coroner of 26 
any county [of the second classification ] not having a  27 
charter form of government as provided in section 58.095 may 28 
be increased up to fourteen thousand dollars greater than 29 
the compensation provided by the salary schedule of such  30 
section. 31 
     4.  The salary commission of any county of the third 32 
classification may amend the base schedules for the 33 
computation of salaries for county officials referenced in 34 
subsection 1 of this section to include assessed valuati on  35 
factors in excess of three hundred million dollars; provided 36 
that the percentage of any adjustments in assessed valuation 37 
factors shall be equal for all such officials in that county. 38 
     50.815.  1.  On or before [the first Monday in March]  1 
June thirtieth of each year, the county commission of each 2 
county of the first [class not having a charter form of 3 
government], second, third, or fourth classification shall,  4 
with the assistance of the county clerk or other officer  5 
responsible for the preparation of the financial statement ,  6 
prepare and publish in some newspaper of general circulation 7   
 3 
published in the county , as provided under section 493.050,  8 
a financial statement of the county for the year ending the 9 
preceding December th irty-first. 10 
     2.  The financial statement shall show at least the 11 
following: 12 
     (1)  A summary of the receipts of each fund of the 13 
county for the year; 14 
     (2)  A summary of the disbursements and transfers of 15 
each fund of the county for the year; 16 
     (3)  A statement of the cash balance at the beginning 17 
and at the end of the year for each fund of the county; 18 
     (4)  A summary of delinquent taxes and other due bills 19 
for each fund of the county; 20 
     (5)  A summary of warrants of each fund of th e county  21 
outstanding at the end of the year; 22 
     (6)  A statement of bonded indebtedness, if any, at the 23 
beginning and at the end of the year for each fund of the 24 
county; [and] 25 
     (7)  A statement of the tax levies of each fund of the 26 
county for the year; and 27 
     (8)  The name, office, and current gross annual salary 28 
of each elected or appointed county official . 29 
     3.  The financial statement need not show specific 30 
disbursements, warrants issued, or the names of specific 31 
payees except to comply with subdivision (8) of subsection 2 32 
of this section, but every individual warrant, voucher, 33 
receipt, court order and all other items, records, documents 34 
and other information which are not specifically required to 35 
be retained by the officer having in itial charge thereof 36 
[and which would be required to be included in or to 37 
construct a financial statement in the form prescribed for 38 
other counties by section 50.800 ] shall be filed on or 39 
before the date of publication of the financial statement 40   
 4 
prescribed by subsection 1 of this section in the office of  41 
the county clerk[, and].  The county clerk or other officer  42 
responsible for the preparation of the financial statement  43 
shall preserve the same, shall provide an electronic copy of 44 
the data used to create the financial statement without 45 
charge to any newspaper requesting a copy of such data, and  46 
shall cause the same to be available for inspection during 47 
normal business hours on the request of any person, for a 48 
period of five years following the d ate of filing in his or  49 
her office, after which five -year period these records may 50 
be disposed of according to law unless they are the subject 51 
of a legal suit pending at the expiration of that period. 52 
     4.  At the end of the financial statement, each  53 
commissioner of the county commission and the county clerk 54 
shall sign and append the following certificate: 55 
56 
57 
58 
59 
60 
61 
62 
63 
64 
65 
66 
67 
68 
69 
70 
71 
72 
73 
   We, _________ , _________ , and _________ , duly 
elected commissioners of the county commission of 
_________  County, Missouri, and I, _________ _________ 
, county clerk of that county, certify that the above 
and foregoing is a complete and correct stateme nt of 
every item of information required in section 50.815 
for the year ending December 31, [19] 20_________ , and 
we have checked every receipt from every source and 
every disbursement of every kind and to whom and for 
what each disbursement was made, and each receipt and 
disbursement is accurately included in the above and 
foregoing totals. (If for any reason complete and 
accurate information is not given the following shall 
be added to the certificate.) Exceptions: the above 
report is incomplete because proper information was not 
available in the following records _________  which are 
in the keeping of the following officer or officers 
_________ . 
   
74    	Date _________     
75     	__________________    
76     	__________________    
77     	__________________      
 5 
     5.  Any person falsely certifying to any fact covered 81 
by the certificate is liable on his or her bond and is  82 
guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction thereof, shall be 83 
punished by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars or 84 
more than one thousand dollars, or by confinement in the 85 
county jail for a period of not less than thirty days nor 86 
more than six months, or by both such fine and confinement.   87 
Any person charged with preparing the financial report who 88 
willfully or knowingly makes a false report of any record 89 
is, in addition to the penalties otherwise provided for in 90 
this section, guilty of a felon y, and upon conviction 91 
thereof shall be sentenced to imprisonment by the division 92 
of corrections for a term of not less than two years nor 93 
more than five years. 94 
     [6.  The provisions of sections 50.800 and 50.810 do 95 
not apply to counties of the firs t class not having a 96 
charter form of government, except as provided in subsection 97 
3 of this section.] 98 
     50.820.  1.  The statement required by section 50.815 1 
shall be set in the standard column width measure which will 2 
take the least space and the publisher shall file two proofs 3 
of publication with the county commission and the commission 4 
shall forward one proof to the state auditor and shall file 5 
the other in the office of the commission.  As required  6 
under section 493.025, a n ewspaper publishing the statement 7 
shall charge and receive no more than its regular local 8 
classified advertising rate, which shall be the rate on the 9 
newspaper's rate schedule that was offered to the public 10 
thirty days before the publication of the sta tement.  The  11 
78    	Commissioners, County Commission    
79     	__________________    
80    	County Clerk      
 6 
county commission shall [not] pay the publisher [until] upon  12 
the filing of proof of publication [is filed] with the  13 
commission [and].  After verification, the state auditor  14 
[notifies] shall notify the commission that proof of 15 
publication has been received and that it complies with the 16 
requirements of this section. 17 
     2.  The statement shall be spread on the record of the 18 
commission and for this purpose the publisher shall be 19 
required to furnish the commission with at least two copies 20 
of the statement which may be [pasted on] placed in the  21 
record. 22 
     3.  The state auditor shall notify the county treasurer 23 
immediately of the receipt of the proof of publication of 24 
the statement.  After the first day of [April] July of each  25 
year the county treasurer shall not pay or enter for protest 26 
any warrant for the pay of any of the county commission 27 
until notice is received from the state auditor that the 28 
required proof of publication has been filed.  [Any county  29 
treasurer paying or enterin g for protest any warrant for any 30 
commissioner of the county commission prior to the receipt 31 
of such notice from the state auditor shall be liable 32 
therefor on his official bond. ] 33 
     4.  The state auditor shall prepare sample forms for 34 
financial statements required by section 50.815 and shall 35 
[mail] provide the same to the county clerk of each county 36 
of the first [class not having a charter form of 37 
government], second, third, or fourth classification in this  38 
state, but failure of the auditor to sup ply such forms shall 39 
not in any way excuse any person from the performance of any 40 
duty imposed by this section or by section 50.815.  If any  41 
county officer fails, neglects, or refuses to comply with 42 
the provisions of this section or section 50.815 [he], the  43 
county officer shall, in addition to other penalties 44   
 7 
provided by law, be liable on his or her official bond for  45 
dereliction of duty. 46 
     55.160.  The auditor of each county of the first 1 
classification not having a charter form of government and  2 
of each county of the second classification shall keep an 3 
inventory of all county property under the control and 4 
management of the various officers and departments and shall 5 
annually take an inventory of such property at an original 6 
value of one thousand dollars or more showing the amount, 7 
location and estimated value thereof.  The auditor shall  8 
keep accounts of all appropriations and expenditures made by 9 
the county commission, and no warrant shall be drawn or 10 
obligation incurred wi thout the auditor's certification that 11 
an unencumbered balance, sufficient to pay the same, remain 12 
in the appropriate account or in the anticipated revenue 13 
fund against which such warrant or obligation is to be 14 
charged.  The auditor shall audit the acc ounts of all  15 
officers of the county annually or upon their retirement 16 
from office.  The auditor shall audit, examine and adjust 17 
all accounts, demands, and claims of every kind and 18 
character presented for payment against the county, and 19 
shall in the auditor's discretion approve to the county 20 
commission of the county all lawful, true, just and legal 21 
accounts, demands and claims of every kind and character 22 
payable out of the county revenue or out of any county funds 23 
before the same shall be allowed an d a warrant issued 24 
therefor by the commission.  Whenever the auditor thinks it 25 
necessary to the proper examination of any account, demand 26 
or claim, the auditor may examine the parties, witnesses, 27 
and others on oath or affirmation touching any matter or  28 
circumstance in the examination of such account, demand or 29 
claim before the auditor allows same.  The auditor shall not 30 
be personally liable for any cost for any proceeding 31   
 8 
instituted against the auditor in the auditor's official 32 
capacity.  The auditor shall keep a correct account between 33 
the county and all county and township officers, and shall 34 
examine all records and settlements made by them for and 35 
with the county commission or with each other, and the 36 
auditor shall, whenever the auditor desir es, have access to 37 
all books, county records or papers kept by any county or 38 
township officer or road overseer.  The auditor shall, 39 
during the first four days of each month, strike a balance 40 
in the case of each county and township officer, showing the 41 
amount of money collected by each, the amount of money due 42 
from each to the county, and the amount of money due from 43 
any source whatever to such office, and the auditor shall 44 
include in such balance any fees that have been returned to 45 
the county commission or to the auditor as unpaid and which 46 
since having been returned have been collected.  Upon  47 
request, the auditor shall have access to and the ability to 48 
audit and examine claims of every kind and character for 49 
which a county officer has a fiducia ry duty. 50 
     58.095.  1.  The county coroner in any county not 1 
having a charter form of government shall receive an annual 2 
salary computed on a basis as set forth in the following 3 
schedule as well as any adjustment authorized under 4 
subsection 3 of section 50.327 .  The provisions of this 5 
section shall not permit or require a reduction in the 6 
amount of compensation being paid for the office of coroner 7 
on January 1, 1997: 8 
9    	Assessed Valuation 	Salary   
10    $18,000,000 to 40,999,999 	$8,000   
11    41,000,000 to 53,999,999 	8,500   
12    54,000,000 to 65,999,999 	9,000     
 9 
     2.  One thousand dollars of the salary authorized in 21 
this section shall be payable to the coroner only if the 22 
coroner has completed at least twenty hours of classroom 23 
instruction each calendar year as established by the coroner 24 
standards and training commission unless exempte d from the  25 
training by the Missouri Coroners' and Medical Examiners' 26 
Association for good cause.  The Missouri Coroners' and 27 
Medical Examiners' Association shall provide a certificate 28 
of completion to each coroner who completes the training 29 
program and shall send a list of certified coroners to the 30 
treasurer of each county and the department of health and 31 
senior services.  The coroner standards and training 32 
commission may certify training programs that satisfy the 33 
requirements of this section in li eu of the training 34 
provided by the Missouri Coroners' and Medical Examiners' 35 
Association.  Certified training completion shall be 36 
submitted to the Missouri Coroners' and Medical Examiners' 37 
Association which, upon validating the certified training, 38 
shall submit the individual's name to the county treasurer 39 
and department of health and senior services indicating the 40 
individual is compliant with the training requirements.   41 
13    66,000,000 to 85,999,999 	9,500   
14    86,000,000 to 99,999,999 	10,000   
15    100,000,000 to 130,999,999 	11,000   
16    131,000,000 to 159,999,999 	12,000   
17    160,000,000 to 189,999,999 	13,000   
18    190,000,000 to 249,999,999 	14,000   
19    250,000,000 to 299,999,999 	15,000   
20    300,000,000 or more 	16,000     
 10 
Expenses incurred for attending the training session may be 42 
reimbursed to the county coroner in the same manner as other 43 
expenses as may be appropriated for that purpose.  All  44 
elected or appointed coroners, deputy coroners, and 45 
assistants to the coroner shall complete the annual training 46 
described in this subsection within six mo nths of election  47 
or appointment. 48 
     3.  The county coroner in any county not having a 49 
charter form of government shall not, except upon two -thirds  50 
vote of all the members of the salary commission, receive an 51 
annual compensation in an amount less than the total  52 
compensation being received for the office of county coroner 53 
in the particular county for services rendered or performed 54 
on the date the salary commission votes. 55 
     4.  For the term beginning in 1997, the compensation of 56 
the coroner, in counties in which the salary commission has 57 
not voted to pay one hundred percent of the maximum 58 
allowable salary, shall be a percentage of the maximum 59 
allowable salary established by this section.  The  60 
percentage applied shall be the same percentage of t he  61 
maximum allowable salary received or allowed, whichever is 62 
greater, to the presiding commissioner or sheriff, whichever 63 
is greater, of that county for the year beginning January 1, 64 
1997.  In those counties in which the salary commission has 65 
voted to pay one hundred percent of the maximum allowable 66 
salary, the compensation of the coroner shall be based on 67 
the maximum allowable salary in effect at each time a 68 
coroner's term of office commences following the vote to pay 69 
one hundred percent of the m aximum allowable compensation.   70 
Subsequent compensation shall be determined as provided in 71 
section 50.333. 72 
     5.  Effective January 1, 1997, the county coroner in 73 
any county not having a charter form of government may, upon 74   
 11 
the approval of the county commission, receive additional 75 
compensation for any month during which investigations or 76 
other services are performed for three or more decedents in 77 
the same incident during such month.  The additional  78 
compensation shall be an amount that when added t o the  79 
regular compensation the sum shall equal the monthly 80 
compensation of the county sheriff. 81 
     58.200.  When the office of sheriff shall be vacant, by 1 
death or otherwise, the coroner of the county is authorized 2 
to perform all the duties which are by law required to be 3 
performed by the sheriff, until another sheriff for such 4 
county shall be appointed and qualified [,] and such coroner  5 
shall have notice thereof [, and].  In such case, said 6 
coroner may appoint one or more deputies, with the  7 
approbation of the judge of the circuit court [;], and every  8 
such appointment, with the oath of office endorsed thereon, 9 
shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit 10 
court of the county.  If the coroner becomes the acting 11 
sheriff and the sheriff is no longer receiving the sheriff's 12 
salary, the coroner may be paid, in addition to the 13 
coroner's salary, the difference between the salaries of 14 
sheriff and coroner so that the coroner receives the 15 
equivalent of the sheriff's salary wh ile serving as acting 16 
sheriff. 17 
     140.170.  1.  Except for lands described in subsection 1 
7 of this section, the county collector shall cause a copy 2 
of the list of delinquent lands and lots to be printed in 3 
some newspaper of general ci rculation published in the 4 
county for three consecutive weeks, one insertion weekly, 5 
before the sale, the last insertion to be at least fifteen 6 
days prior to the fourth Monday in August. 7 
     2.  In addition to the names of all record owners or 8 
the names of all owners appearing on the land tax book it is 9   
 12 
only necessary in the printed and published list to state in 10 
the aggregate the amount of taxes, penalty, interest and 11 
cost due thereon, each year separately stated. 12 
     3.  To the list shall be atta ched and in like manner 13 
printed and published a notice of said lands and lots 14 
stating that said land and lots will be sold at public 15 
auction to discharge the taxes, penalty, interest, and costs 16 
due thereon at the time of sale in or adjacent to the 17 
courthouse of such county, on the fourth Monday in August 18 
next thereafter, commencing at ten o'clock of said day and 19 
continuing from day to day thereafter until all are 20 
offered.  Such auction may also be conducted by electronic 21 
media, including the intern et, at the same time and at the 22 
discretion of the county collector. 23 
     4.  The county collector, on or before the day of sale, 24 
shall insert at the foot of the list on his or her record a 25 
copy of the notice and certify on his or her record 26 
immediately following the notice the name of the newspaper 27 
of the county in which the notice was printed and published 28 
and the dates of insertions thereof in the newspaper. 29 
     5.  The expense of such printing shall be paid out of 30 
the county treasury and shall no t exceed the rate provided 31 
for in chapter 493, relating to legal publications, notices 32 
and advertisements, and the cost of printing at the rate 33 
paid by the county shall be taxed as part of the costs of 34 
the sale of any land or lot contained in the list. 35 
     6.  The county collector shall cause the affidavit of 36 
the printer, editor or publisher of the newspaper in which 37 
the list of delinquent lands and notice of sale was 38 
published, as provided by section 493.060, with the list and 39 
notice attached, to be recorded in the office of the 40 
recorder of deeds of the county, and the recorder shall not 41 
charge or receive any fees for recording the same. 42   
 13 
     7.  The county collector may have a separate list of 43 
such lands, without legal descriptions or the names of the  44 
record owners, printed in a newspaper of general circulation 45 
published in such county for three consecutive weeks before 46 
the sale of such lands for a parcel or lot of land that: 47 
     (1)  Has an assessed value of one thousand five hundred 48 
dollars or less and has been advertised previously; or 49 
     (2)  Is a lot in a development of twenty or more lots 50 
and such lot has an assessed value of one thousand five 51 
hundred dollars or less.   52 
The notice shall state that legal descriptions and the names  53 
of the record owners of such lands shall be posted at any  54 
county courthouse within the county and the office of the  55 
county collector. 56 
     8.  If, in the opinion of the county collector, an 57 
adequate legal description of the delinquent land and lots 58 
cannot be obtained through researching the documents 59 
available through the recorder of deeds, the collector may 60 
commission a professional land surveyor to prepare an 61 
adequate legal description of the delinquent land and lots 62 
in question.  The costs of any commissioned land survey 63 
deemed necessary by the county collector shall be taxed as 64 
part of the costs of the sale of any land or lots contained 65 
in the list prepared under this section. 66 
     140.190.  1.  On the day mentioned in the noti ce, the  1 
county collector shall commence the sale of such lands, and 2 
shall continue the same from day to day until each parcel 3 
assessed or belonging to each person assessed shall be sold 4 
as will pay the taxes, interest and charges thereon, or 5 
chargeable to such person in said county. 6 
     2.  The person or land bank agency offering at said 7 
sale, whether in person or by electronic media, to pay the  8 
required sum for a tract shall be considered the purchaser 9   
 14 
of such land; provided, no sale shall be made to any person  10 
or designated agent who is currently delinquent on any tax 11 
payments on any property, other than a delinquency on the 12 
property being offered for sale, and who does not sign an 13 
affidavit stating such at the time of sale.  Failure to sign  14 
such affidavit as well as signing a false affidavit may 15 
invalidate such sale.  No bid shall be received from any 16 
person not a resident of the state of Missouri or a foreign 17 
corporation or entity all deemed nonresidents.  A  18 
nonresident shall file with s aid collector an agreement in 19 
writing consenting to the jurisdiction of the circuit court 20 
of the county in which such sale shall be made, and also 21 
filing with such collector an appointment of some citizen of 22 
said county as agent of said nonresident, an d consenting  23 
that service of process on such agent shall give such court 24 
jurisdiction to try and determine any suit growing out of or 25 
connected with such sale for taxes.  After the delinquent 26 
auction sale, any certificate of purchase shall be issued to  27 
the agent.  After meeting the requirements of section 28 
140.405, the property shall be conveyed to the agent on 29 
behalf of the nonresident, and the agent shall thereafter 30 
convey the property to the nonresident. 31 
     3.  All such written consents to juris diction and  32 
selective appointments shall be preserved by the county 33 
collector and shall be binding upon any person or 34 
corporation claiming under the person consenting to 35 
jurisdiction and making the appointment herein referred to; 36 
provided further, tha t in the event of the death, disability 37 
or refusal to act of the person appointed as agent of said 38 
nonresident the county clerk shall become the appointee as 39 
agent of said nonresident. 40 
     4.  No person residing in any home rule city with more 41 
than seventy-one thousand but fewer than seventy -nine  42   
 15 
thousand inhabitants shall be eligible to offer to purchase 43 
lands under this section unless such person has, no later 44 
than ten days before the sale date, demonstrated to the 45 
satisfaction of the official ch arged by law with conducting 46 
the sale that the person is not the owner of any parcel of 47 
real property that has two or more violations of the 48 
municipality's building or housing codes.  A prospective  49 
bidder may make such a demonstration by presenting 50 
statements from the appropriate collection and code 51 
enforcement officials of the municipality.  This subsection  52 
shall not apply to any taxing authority or land bank agency, 53 
and entities shall be eligible to bid at any sale conducted 54 
under this section wi thout making such a demonstration. 55 
     304.022.  1.  Upon the immediate approach of an 1 
emergency vehicle giving audible signal by siren or while 2 
having at least one lighted lamp exhibiting red light 3 
visible under normal atmospheric cond itions from a distance 4 
of five hundred feet to the front of such vehicle or a 5 
flashing blue light authorized by section 307.175, the 6 
driver of every other vehicle shall yield the right -of-way  7 
and shall immediately drive to a position parallel to, and 8 
as far as possible to the right of, the traveled portion of 9 
the highway and thereupon stop and remain in such position 10 
until such emergency vehicle has passed, except when 11 
otherwise directed by a police or traffic officer. 12 
     2.  Upon approaching a st ationary vehicle displaying 13 
lighted red or red and blue lights, or a stationary vehicle 14 
displaying lighted amber or amber and white lights, the 15 
driver of every motor vehicle shall: 16 
     (1)  Proceed with caution and yield the right -of-way,  17 
if possible with due regard to safety and traffic 18 
conditions, by making a lane change into a lane not adjacent 19 
to that of the stationary vehicle, if on a roadway having at 20   
 16 
least four lanes with not less than two lanes proceeding in 21 
the same direction as the approa ching vehicle; or 22 
     (2)  Proceed with due caution and reduce the speed of 23 
the vehicle, maintaining a safe speed for road conditions, 24 
if changing lanes would be unsafe or impossible. 25 
     3.  The motorman of every streetcar shall immediately 26 
stop such car clear of any intersection and keep it in such 27 
position until the emergency vehicle has passed, except as 28 
otherwise directed by a police or traffic officer. 29 
     4.  An "emergency vehicle" is a vehicle of any of the 30 
following types: 31 
     (1)  A vehicle operated by the state highway patrol, 32 
the state water patrol, the Missouri capitol police, a 33 
conservation agent, or a state or a county park ranger,  34 
those vehicles operated by enforcement personnel of the 35 
state highways and transportation commissio n, police or fire  36 
department, sheriff, constable or deputy sheriff, federal 37 
law enforcement officer authorized to carry firearms and to 38 
make arrests for violations of the laws of the United 39 
States, traffic officer, coroner, medical examiner, or 40 
forensic investigator of the county medical examiner's 41 
office, or by a privately owned emergency vehicle company; 42 
     (2)  A vehicle operated as an ambulance or operated 43 
commercially for the purpose of transporting emergency 44 
medical supplies or organs; 45 
     (3)  Any vehicle qualifying as an emergency vehicle 46 
pursuant to section 307.175; 47 
     (4)  Any wrecker, or tow truck or a vehicle owned and 48 
operated by a public utility or public service corporation 49 
while performing emergency service; 50 
     (5)  Any vehicle transporting equipment designed to 51 
extricate human beings from the wreckage of a motor vehicle; 52   
 17 
     (6)  Any vehicle designated to perform emergency 53 
functions for a civil defense or emergency management agency 54 
established pursuant to the provisions of chapter 44; 55 
     (7)  Any vehicle operated by an authorized employee of 56 
the department of corrections who, as part of the employee's 57 
official duties, is responding to a riot, disturbance, 58 
hostage incident, escape or other critical situation where 59 
there is the threat of serious physical injury or death, 60 
responding to mutual aid call from another criminal justice 61 
agency, or in accompanying an ambulance which is 62 
transporting an offender to a medical facility; 63 
     (8)  Any vehicle designated to perf orm hazardous  64 
substance emergency functions established pursuant to the 65 
provisions of sections 260.500 to 260.550; 66 
     (9)  Any vehicle owned by the state highways and 67 
transportation commission and operated by an authorized 68 
employee of the department of transportation that is marked 69 
as a department of transportation emergency response or 70 
motorist assistance vehicle; or 71 
     (10)  Any vehicle owned and operated by the civil 72 
support team of the Missouri National Guard while in 73 
response to or during o perations involving chemical, 74 
biological, or radioactive materials or in support of 75 
official requests from the state of Missouri involving 76 
unknown substances, hazardous materials, or as may be 77 
requested by the appropriate state agency acting on behalf 78 
of the governor. 79 
     5.  (1)  The driver of any vehicle referred to in 80 
subsection 4 of this section shall not sound the siren 81 
thereon or have the front red lights or blue lights on 82 
except when such vehicle is responding to an emergency call 83 
or when in pursuit of an actual or suspected law violator, 84 
or when responding to, but not upon returning from, a fire. 85   
 18 
     (2)  The driver of an emergency vehicle may: 86 
     (a)  Park or stand irrespective of the provisions of 87 
sections 304.014 to 304.025; 88 
     (b)  Proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign, 89 
but only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe 90 
operation; 91 
     (c)  Exceed the prima facie speed limit so long as the 92 
driver does not endanger life or property; 93 
     (d)  Disregard regulations governing direction of 94 
movement or turning in specified directions. 95 
     (3)  The exemptions granted to an emergency vehicle 96 
pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection shall apply 97 
only when the driver of any such vehicle while in motion 98 
sounds audible signal by bell, siren, or exhaust whistle as 99 
may be reasonably necessary, and when the vehicle is 100 
equipped with at least one lighted lamp displaying a red 101 
light or blue light visible under normal atmospheric 102 
conditions from a distance of five hund red feet to the front 103 
of such vehicle. 104 
     6.  No person shall purchase an emergency light as 105 
described in this section without furnishing the seller of 106 
such light an affidavit stating that the light will be used 107 
exclusively for emergency vehicle purp oses. 108 
     7.  Violation of this section shall be deemed a class A 109 
misdemeanor. 110 
     473.742.  1.  Each public administrator in counties of 1 
the second, third or fourth classification and in the city 2 
of St. Louis shall make a determinatio n within thirty days 3 
after taking office whether such public administrator shall 4 
elect to receive a salary as defined herein or receive fees 5 
as may be allowed by law to executors, administrators and 6 
personal representatives.  The election by the public  7 
administrator shall be made in writing to the county clerk.   8   
 19 
Should the public administrator elect to receive a salary, 9 
the public administrator's office may not then elect to 10 
change at any future time to receive fees in lieu of 11 
salary.  Every public administrator who begins his or her 12 
first term on or after January 1, 2023, shall be deemed to 13 
have elected to receive a salary as provided in this section. 14 
     2.  If a public administrator elects to be placed on 15 
salary, the salary shall be based upo n the average number of 16 
open letters in the two years preceding the term when the 17 
salary is elected, based upon the following schedule: 18 
     (1)  Zero to five letters:  salary shall be a minimum 19 
of seven thousand five hundred dollars; 20 
     (2)  Six to fifteen letters:  salary shall be a minimum 21 
of fifteen thousand dollars; 22 
     (3)  Sixteen to twenty-five letters:  salary shall be a  23 
minimum of twenty thousand dollars; 24 
     (4)  Twenty-six to thirty-nine letters:  salary shall  25 
be a minimum of twenty -five thousand dollars; 26 
     (5)  Public administrators with forty or more letters 27 
shall be considered full -time county officials and shall be 28 
paid according to the assessed valuation schedule set forth 29 
below: 30 
31    	Assessed Valuation Salary    
32    $ 8,000,000 to 40,999,999 $29,000    
33    $ 41,000,000 to 53,999,999 $30,000    
34    $ 54,000,000 to 65,999,999 $32,000    
35    $ 66,000,000 to 85,999,999 $34,000    
36    $ 86,000,000 to 99,999,999 $36,000    
37    $ 100,000,000 to 130,999,999 $38,000      
 20 
     (6)  The public administrator in the city of St. Louis 50 
shall receive a salary not less than sixty -five thousand  51 
dollars; 52 
     (7)  Two thousand dollars of the compensation 53 
authorized in this section shall be payable to the public 54 
administrator only if he or she has completed at least 55 
twenty hours of instruction each calendar year relating to 56 
the operations of the public administrator's office when 57 
approved by a professional association of the county public 58 
administrators of Missouri unless exempted from the training 59 
by the professional association.  The professional  60 
association approving the program s hall provide a  61 
certificate of completion to each public administrator who 62 
completes the training program and shall send a list of 63 
certified public administrators to the treasurer of each 64 
county.  Expenses incurred for attending the training 65 
38    $ 131,000,000 to 159,999,999 $40,000    
39    $ 160,000,000 to 189,999,999 $41,000    
40    $ 190,000,000 to 249,999,999 $41,500    
41    $ 250,000,000 to 299,999,999 $43,000    
42    $ 300,000,000 to 449,999,999 $45,000    
43    $ 450,000,000 to 599,999,999 $47,000    
44    $ 600,000,000 to 749,999,999 $49,000    
45    $ 750,000,000 to 899,999,999 $51,000    
46    $ 900,000,000 to 1,049,999,999 $53,000    
47    $ 1,050,000,000 to 1,199,999,999 $55,000    
48    $ 1,200,000,000 to 1,349,999,999 $57,000    
49    $ 1,350,000,000  and over $59,000 ;     
 21 
session shall be reimbursed to the county public 66 
administrator in the same manner as other expenses as may be 67 
appropriated for that purpose. 68 
     3.  If a public administrator is appointed by the court 69 
as both a guardian and a conservator to the same ward or 70 
protectee, it shall be considered two letters. 71 
     4.  Notwithstanding subsection 2 or 5 of this section, 72 
upon majority approval by the salary commission, a public 73 
administrator may be paid according to the assessed 74 
valuation schedule set forth in subdivi sion (5) of  75 
subsection 2 of this section.  If the salary commission 76 
elects to pay a public administrator according to the 77 
assessed valuation schedule, the salary commission shall not 78 
elect to change at any future time to pay the public 79 
administrator's office according to the average number of 80 
open letters in lieu of paying them according to the 81 
assessed valuation schedule. 82 
     5.  The initial compensation of the public 83 
administrator who elects to be put on salary shall be 84 
determined by the average number of letters for the two 85 
years preceding the term when the salary is elected.  Salary  86 
increases or decreases according to the minimum schedule set 87 
forth in [subsection 1 of] this section shall be adjusted 88 
only after the number of open letters pla ces the workload in 89 
a different subdivision for two consecutive years.  Minimum  90 
salary increases or decreases shall only take effect upon a 91 
new term of office of the public administrator.  The number  92 
of letters each year shall be determined in accordan ce with  93 
the reporting requirements set forth in law. 94 
     [4.] 6.  All fees collected by a public administrator 95 
who elects to be salaried shall be deposited in the county 96 
treasury or with the treasurer for the city of St. Louis. 97   
 22 
     [5.] 7.  Any public administrator in a county of the 98 
first classification without a charter form of government 99 
with a population of less than one hundred thousand 100 
inhabitants who elects to receive fees in lieu of a salary 101 
pursuant to this section may elect to join the Mi ssouri  102 
local government employees' retirement system created 103 
pursuant to sections 70.600 to 70.755. 104 
     8.  (1)  A letter of guardianship and a letter of 105 
conservatorship shall be counted as separate letters. 106 
     (2)  For purposes of this subsection: 107 
    (a)  "Letter of conservatorship" means the appointment 108 
of a conservatorship of an estate by the court to a 109 
protectee adjudged to be disabled; 110 
     (b)  "Letter of guardianship" means the appointment of 111 
a guardianship by the court to a ward adjudged to be  112 
incapacitated. 113 
     [50.800.  1.  On or before the first Monday 1 
in March of each year, the county commission of 2 
each county of the second, third, or fourth 3 
class shall prepare and publish in some 4 
newspaper as provided for in se ction 493.050, if  5 
there is one, and if not by notices posted in at 6 
least ten places in the county, a detailed 7 
financial statement of the county for the year 8 
ending December thirty -first, preceding. 9 
     2.  The statement shall show the bonded 10 
debt of the county, if any, kind of bonds, date 11 
of maturity, interest rate, rate of taxation 12 
levied for interest and sinking fund and 13 
authority for the levy, the total amount of 14 
interest and sinking fund that has been 15 
collected and interest and sinking fund o n hand  16 
in cash. 17 
     3.  The statement shall also show 18 
separately the total amount of the county and 19 
township school funds on hand and loaned out, 20 
the amount of penalties, fines, levies, 21 
utilities, forfeitures, and any other taxes 22 
collected and disbursed or expended during the 23 
year and turned into the permanent school fund, 24 
the name of each person who has a loan from the 25 
permanent school fund, whether county or 26 
township, the amount of the loan, date loan was 27 
made and date of maturity, description of the  28 
security for the loan, amount, if any, of 29 
delinquent interest on each loan. 30   
 23 
     4.  The statement shall show the total 31 
valuation of the county for purposes of 32 
taxation, the highest rate of taxation the 33 
constitution permits the county commissi on to  34 
levy for purposes of county revenue, the rate 35 
levied by the county commission for the year 36 
covered by the statement, division of the rate 37 
levied among the several funds and total amount 38 
of delinquent taxes for all years as of December 39 
thirty-first. 40 
     5.  The statement shall show receipts or 41 
revenues into each and every fund separately.   42 
Each fund shall show the beginning balance of 43 
each fund; each source of revenue; the total 44 
amount received from each source of revenue; the 45 
total amount available in each fund; the total 46 
amount of disbursements or expenditures from 47 
each fund and the ending balance of each fund as 48 
of December thirty-first.  The total receipts or 49 
revenues for the year into all funds shall be 50 
shown in the recapitulation.  In counties with  51 
the township form of government, each township 52 
shall be considered a fund pursuant to this 53 
subsection. 54 
     6.  Total disbursements or expenditures 55 
shall be shown for warrants issued in each 56 
category contained in the forms developed or  57 
approved by the state auditor pursuant to 58 
section 50.745.  Total amount of warrants, 59 
person or vendor to whom issued and purpose for 60 
which issued shall be shown except as herein 61 
provided.  Under a separate heading in each fund 62 
the statements shall show what warrants are 63 
outstanding and unpaid for the lack of funds on 64 
that date with appropriate balance or overdraft 65 
in each fund as the case may be. 66 
     7.  Warrants issued to pay for the service 67 
of election judges and clerks of elections shall 68 
be in the following form: 69 
     Names of judges and clerks of elections at 70 
$______ per day (listing the names run in and 71 
not listing each name by lines, and at the end 72 
of the list of names giving the total of the 73 
amount of all the warrants issued for su ch  74 
election services). 75 
     8.  Warrants issued to pay for the service 76 
of jurors shall be in the following form: 77 
     Names of jurors at $______ per day (listing 78 
the names run in and not listing each name by 79 
lines, and at the end of the list of names 80 
giving the total of the amount of all the 81 
warrants issued for such election service). 82 
     9.  Warrants to Internal Revenue Service 83 
for Social Security and withholding taxes shall 84 
be brought into one call. 85 
     10.  Warrants to the director of revenue o f  86 
Missouri for withholding taxes shall be brought 87 
into one call. 88   
 24 
     11.  Warrants to the division of employment 89 
security shall be brought into one call. 90 
     12.  Warrants to Missouri local government 91 
employees' retirement system or other retirement 92 
funds for each office shall be brought into one 93 
call. 94 
     13.  Warrants for utilities such as gas, 95 
water, lights and power shall be brought into 96 
one call except that the total shall be shown 97 
for each vendor. 98 
     14.  Warrants issued to each telephon e  99 
company shall be brought into one call for each 100 
office in the following form: 101 
     (Name of Telephone Company for ______ 102 
office and total amount of warrants issued). 103 
     15.  Warrants issued to the postmaster for 104 
postage shall be brought into one ca ll for each  105 
office in the following form: 106 
     (Postmaster for ______ office and total 107 
amount of warrants issued). 108 
     16.  Disbursements or expenditures by road 109 
districts shall show the warrants, if warrants 110 
have been issued in the same manner as pro vided  111 
for in subsection 5 of this section.  If money  112 
has been disbursed or expended by overseers the 113 
financial statement shall show the total paid by 114 
the overseer to each person for the year, and 115 
the purpose of each payment.  Receipts or  116 
revenues into the county distributive school 117 
fund shall be listed in detail, disbursements or 118 
expenditures shall be listed and the amount of 119 
each disbursement or expenditure.  If any taxes  120 
have been levied by virtue of Section 12(a) of 121 
Article X of the Constituti on of Missouri the 122 
financial statement shall contain the following: 123 
     By virtue and authority of the 124 
discretionary power conferred upon the county 125 
commissions of the several counties of this 126 
state to levy a tax of not to exceed 35 cents on 127 
the $100 assessed valuation the county 128 
commission of ______ County did for the year 129 
covered by this report levy a tax rate of ______ 130 
cents on the $100 assessed valuation which said 131 
tax amounted to $______ and was disbursed or 132 
expended as follows: 133 
The statement shall show how the money was  134 
disbursed or expended and if any part of the sum  135 
has not been accounted for in detail under some  136 
previous appropriate heading the portion not  137 
previously accounted for shall be shown in  138 
detail. 139 
     17.  At the end of the statement the person 140 
designated by the county commission to prepare 141 
the financial statement herein required shall 142 
append the following certificate: 143 
144 
145 
146 
147 
  I, ______, the duly authorized agent 
appointed by the county commission of 
______ County, state of Missouri, to 
prepare for publication the financial 
       
 25 
Or if no one has been designated said statement 177 
having been prepared by the county clerk, 178 
signature shall be in the followi ng form: 179 
     Clerk of the county commission and ex 180 
officio officer designated to prepare financial 181 
statement required by section 50.800, RSMo. 182 
     18.  Any person falsely certifying to any 183 
fact covered by the certificate is liable on his 184 
bond and upon conviction of falsely certifying 185 
to any fact covered by the certificate is guilty 186 
of a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine of not 187 
less than two hundred dollars or more than one 188 
thousand dollars or by imprisonment in the 189 
county jail for not less tha n thirty days nor  190 
more than six months or by both fine and 191 
imprisonment.  Any person charged with the 192 
responsibility of preparing the financial report 193 
who willfully or knowingly makes a false report 194 
of any record, is, in addition to the penalty 195 
otherwise provided for in this law, deemed 196 
guilty of a felony and upon conviction shall be 197 
sentenced to the penitentiary for not less than 198 
two years nor more than five years. ] 199 
     [50.810.  1.  The statement shall be 1 
printed in not less t han 8-point type, but not 2 
more than the smallest point type over 8 -point  3 
type available and in the standard column width 4 
measure that will take the least space.  The  5 
publisher shall file two proofs of publication 6 
with the county commission and the com mission  7 
148 
149 
150 
151 
152 
153 
154 
155 
156 
157 
158 
159 
160 
161 
162 
163 
164 
165 
166 
167 
168 
169 
170 
171 
172 
statement as required by section 50.800, 
RSMo, hereby certify tha t I have diligently 
checked the records of the county and that 
the above and foregoing is a complete and 
correct statement of every item of 
information required in section 50.800, 
RSMo, for the year ending December 31, 
______, and especially have I checked every 
receipt from every source whatsoever and 
every disbursement or expenditure of every 
kind and to whom and for what each such 
disbursement or expenditure was made and 
that each receipt or revenue and 
disbursement or expenditure is accurately 
shown.  (If for any reason complete and 
accurate information is not given the 
following shall be added to the 
certificate.)  Exceptions: The above report 
is incomplete because proper information 
was not available in the following records 
______ which are in the kee ping of the 
following officer or officers.  The person 
designated to prepare the financial 
statement shall give in detail any 
incomplete data called for by this section. 
173     	Date ______     
174 
175 
176 
  Officer designated by county commission to 
prepare financial statement required by 
section 50.800, RSMo. 
       
 26 
shall forward one proof to the state auditor and 8 
shall file the other in the office of the 9 
commission.  The county commission shall not pay 10 
the publisher until proof of publication is 11 
filed with the commission and shall not pay the 12 
person designated to prepare the statement for 13 
the preparation of the copy for the statement 14 
until the state auditor notifies the commission 15 
that proof of publication has been received and 16 
that it complies with the requirements of this 17 
section. 18 
     2.  The statement shall be spread on the 19 
record of the commission and for this purpose 20 
the publisher shall be required to furnish the 21 
commission with at least two copies of the 22 
statement that may be pasted on the record.  The  23 
publisher shall itemize the cost of publishing  24 
said statement by column inch as properly 25 
chargeable to the several funds and shall submit 26 
such costs for payment to the county 27 
commission.  The county commission shall pay out 28 
of each fund in the proportion that each item 29 
bears to the total cost of publishing said 30 
statement and shall issue warrants therefor; 31 
provided any part not properly chargeable to any 32 
specific fund shall be paid from the county 33 
general revenue fund. 34 
     3.  The state auditor shall notify the 35 
county treasurer imm ediately of the receipt of 36 
the proof of publication of the statement.   37 
After the first of April of each year the county 38 
treasurer shall not pay or enter for protest any 39 
warrant for the pay of any commissioner of any 40 
county commission until notice is r eceived from  41 
the state auditor that the required proof of 42 
publication has been filed.  Any county  43 
treasurer paying or entering for protest any 44 
warrant for any commissioner of the county 45 
commission prior to the receipt of such notice 46 
from the state auditor shall be liable on his 47 
official bond therefor. 48 
     4.  The state auditor shall prepare sample 49 
forms for financial statements and shall mail 50 
the same to the county clerks of the several 51 
counties in this state.  If the county  52 
commission employs a ny person other than a 53 
bonded county officer to prepare the financial 54 
statement the county commission shall require 55 
such person to give bond with good and 56 
sufficient sureties in the penal sum of one 57 
thousand dollars for the faithful performance of 58 
his duty.  If any county officer or other person 59 
employed to prepare the financial statement 60 
herein provided for shall fail, neglect, or 61 
refuse to, in any manner, comply with the 62 
provisions of this law he shall, in addition to 63 
other penalties herein pro vided, be liable on 64 
his official bond for dereliction of duty. ] 65