EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1049
101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BRATTIN.
3977S.01I ADRIANE D. CROUSE, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 115.124, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to
municipal elections, with a delayed effective date.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 115.124, RSMo, is repealed and two new 1
sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 2
115.124 and 115.710, to read as follows:3
115.124. 1. Notwithstanding any other law to the 1
contrary, in a nonpartisan election in any [political 2
subdivision or] special district [including municipal 3
elections in any city, town, or village ] with two thousand 4
or fewer inhabitants that have adopted a proposal pursuant 5
to subsection 3 of this section [but excluding municipal 6
elections in any city, town, or village with more than two 7
thousand inhabitants, ] if the notice provided for in 8
subsection 5 of section 115.1 27 has been published in at 9
least one newspaper of general circulation as defined in 10
section 493.050 in the district, and if the number of 11
candidates for each office in [a particular political 12
subdivision,] the special district[, or municipality] is 13
equal to the number of positions for each office within the 14
[political subdivision, ] special district[, or municipality] 15
to be filled by the election and no ballot measure is placed 16
on the ballot such that a particular political subdivision 17
will owe no proportional elections costs if an election is 18 SB 1049 2
not held, no election shall be held, and the candidates 19
shall assume the responsibilities of their offices at the 20
same time and in the same manner as if they had been 21
elected. If no election is held for a particular [political 22
subdivision,] special district[, or municipality] as 23
provided in this section, the election authority shall 24
publish a notice containing the names of the candidates that 25
shall assume the responsibilities of office under this 26
section. Such notice shall be published in at least one 27
newspaper of general circulation as defined in section 28
493.050 in such [political subdivision or ] district by the 29
first of the month in which the election would have 30
occurred, had it been contested. Notwithstanding any other 31
provision of law to the contrary, if at any election the 32
number of candidates filing for a particular office exceeds 33
the number of positions to be filled at such election, the 34
election authority shall hold the election as sch eduled, 35
even if a sufficient number of candidates withdraw from such 36
contest for that office so that the number of candidates 37
remaining after the filing deadline is equal to the number 38
of positions to be filled. 39
2. The election authority or polit ical subdivision 40
responsible for the oversight of the filing of candidates in 41
any nonpartisan election in any [political subdivision or ] 42
special district shall clearly designate where candidates 43
shall form a line to effectuate such filings and determin e 44
the order of such filings; except that, in the case of 45
candidates who file a declaration of candidacy with the 46
election authority or political subdivision prior to 5:00 47
p.m. on the first day for filing, the election authority or 48
political subdivisio n may determine by random drawing the 49
order in which such candidates' names shall appear on the 50 SB 1049 3
ballot. If a drawing is conducted pursuant to this 51
subsection, it shall be conducted so that each candidate, or 52
candidate's representative if the candidate filed under 53
subsection 2 of section 115.355, may draw a number at random 54
at the time of filing. If such drawing is conducted, the 55
election authority or political subdivision shall record the 56
number drawn with the candidate's declaration of candidacy. 57
If such drawing is conducted, the names of candidates filing 58
on the first day of filing for each office on each ballot 59
shall be listed in ascending order of the numbers so drawn. 60
3. The governing body of any city, town, or village 61
with two thousand or fewer inhabitants may submit to the 62
voters at any available election, a question to adopt the 63
provisions of subsection 1 of this section for [municipal] 64
special district elections. If a majority of the votes cast 65
by the qualified voters voting thereon are in favor of the 66
question, then the city, town, or village shall conduct 67
[nonpartisan municipal ] elections as provided in subsection 68
1 of this section for all nonpartisan elections remaining in 69
the year in which the proposal was adopted and for the six 70
calendar years immediately following such approval. At the 71
end of such six-year period, each such [city, town, or 72
village] special district shall be prohibited from 73
conducting such elections in such a manner unless such a 74
question is again adopted by the majority of qualified 75
voters as provided in this subsection. 76
115.710. 1. Each declaration of candidacy for any 1
city, town, or village office, or any township office in a 2
township organization county shall state the candidate's 3
full name, residence address, office for which such 4
candidate proposes to be a candidate, the party ticket on 5
which he or she wishes to be a candidate, and that if 6 SB 1049 4
elected he or she will qualify. The declaration shall be in 7
substantially the following form: 8
2. If the declaration is to be filed in person, it 33
shall be subscribed and sworn to by the candidate before an 34
official authorized to accept his or her declaration of 35
candidacy. If the declaration is to be filed by certified 36
mail or any other means, it shall be subscribed and sworn to 37
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
I, ______, a resident and registered voter of the
county of ______ and the state of Missouri,
residing at ______, do announce myself a candidate
for the office of ______ on the ______ party
ticket, to be voted for at the general municipal
election to be held on the ______ day of ______,
______, and I further declare that if elected to
such office I will qualify.
17 __________________ Subscribed and sworn
18 Signature of candidate to before me this
19 ______ day of
20 ______, ______
21 __________________ __________________
22 Residence address Signature of election
23
24
official or other
officer
25 authorized to
26 administer oaths
27 __________________
28
29
Mailing address (if
different)
30 __________________
31
32
Telephone Number
(Optional)
SB 1049 5
by the candidate before a notary public or other officer 38
authorized by law to administe r oaths. 39
Section B. Section A of this act shall become 1
effective on January 1, 2023. 2