HOUSE BILL NO. 1405 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE SELF.
2819H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To repeal section 182.291, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to city- county library boards of trustees.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 182.291, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu 2 thereof, to be known as section 182.291, to read as follows: 182.291. 1. After the establishment of a county library district as provided in section 2 182.010, the board of trustees of any city library within the county, which city has a library 3 tax levy equal to that levied for the county library district, and which county library district 4 has a population of under two hundred and fifty thousand, with the prior approval of the 5 governing body of the city, may petition the county governing body to permit the organization 6 of a city-county library to provide library service to the residents of the county by appropriate 7 means from the city library. 8 2. After the county library board has been appointed as provided in section 182.050, 9 the county library board may petition the county governing body to permit the organization of 10 a city-county library which shall provide library service to the residents of the county by 11 appropriate means from the city library. Within thirty days after receiving the petition the 12 county governing body shall notify the county library board and the city library board of its 13 decision by order of record. If the petition is approved, the city-county library shall be 14 deemed established; but if the petition is denied, the parties may proceed as provided in 15 sections 182.010 to 182.120. 16 3. (1) The city-county library shall be under the control and supervision of a board of 17 trustees of nine members[.] appointed as follows:
EXPLANATION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted from the law. Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language. HB 1405 2
18 (a) If the population of the county is larger than that of the city, the county governing 19 body shall appoint five members of the library board[.]; 20 (b) If the population of the county is less than that of the city, the county governing 21 body shall appoint four members of the library board[.]; 22 (c) If the population of the city is larger than that of the county, the mayor of the city 23 shall appoint five members to the library board[.]; 24 (d) If the population of the city is less than that of the county[,]: 25 a. Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph b. of this paragraph, the mayor 26 shall appoint four members to the library board; and 27 b. In any county with more than four hundred thousand but fewer than five 28 hundred thousand inhabitants, for members appointed on or after January 1, 2026, the 29 mayors of the four most populous cities in the county shall appoint four members to the 30 library board as follows: 31 (i) The member's term that expires first after January 1, 2026, shall be filled by 32 an appointment by the mayor of the most populous city in the county; 33 (ii) The member's term that expires second after January 1, 2026, shall be filled 34 by an appointment by the mayor of the second-most populous city in the county; 35 (iii) The member's term that expires third after January 1, 2026, shall be filled 36 by an appointment by the mayor of the third-most populous city in the county; and 37 (iv) The member's term that expires fourth after January 1, 2026, shall be filled 38 by an appointment by the mayor of the fourth-most populous city in the county. 39 (2) (a) After the initial appointments made by following the order of 40 appointments described in subparagraph b. of paragraph (d) of subdivision (1) of this 41 subsection, subsequent appointments shall be made by following the same order. 42 (b) The population of the cities described in subparagraph b. of paragraph (d) of 43 subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be determined on the basis of the last previous 44 decennial census of the United States as provided in section 1.100. 45 (3) The members shall serve a term of three years and until their successors are 46 appointed and qualified in the same manner as their predecessors; except that, the original 47 members shall serve terms ranging from one to three years to be determined by the board at 48 its first meeting. Immediately upon their appointment, the board shall organize as provided in 49 section 182.060; and thereupon the city board shall cease to exist and shall turn over all 50 property, books and records to the city-county board. 51 4. All unexpended funds of the preexisting separate city and county library districts 52 shall be deposited by the custodians thereof with the city treasurer immediately upon the 53 issuance of the county governing body's approval of the petition. HB 1405 3
54 5. For all tax purposes, including levies and adjustments thereof, the city library 55 district shall become a part of the county library district at the beginning of the next fiscal 56 year after the merger and the property within the city library district shall be treated as within 57 the county library district for all such purposes; except, until the city library district shall 58 become a part of the county library district the levy and collection of taxes shall be made as 59 though no merger had taken place, so that the levy and collection of taxes shall be without 60 interruption, and during that period no change in the levy shall take place. The funds 61 collected shall be turned over to the city treasurer immediately upon collection. 62 6. All of the real and personal property and all of the obligations of the preexisting 63 separate city and county library districts shall, without further action, become the property 64 and obligations of the merged city-county library district, which shall have an official name 65 composed of the name of the city, followed by the name of the county and followed by the 66 words "County Library District". 67 7. The merged district, and the librarian, officials and board thereof, shall have all of 68 the rights, powers, responsibilities, and privileges granted county library districts by the laws 69 of the state of Missouri and shall be governed by such laws, as though the merged districts 70 were a county library district, except: 71 (1) Where such laws are inconsistent with this section; 72 (2) The treasurer of the board of trustees of the library district shall receive and be the 73 custodian of all moneys, belonging to the district from whatever source derived. Such funds 74 shall be audited annually. At least once in every month the proper finance officer shall pay 75 over to the treasurer of the library district all moneys received and collected for the fund, 76 including interest on such moneys, and take duplicate receipts from the treasurer, one of 77 which he shall file with the secretary of the library district and the other of which he shall file 78 in his settlement with the proper governing body; 79 (3) The library board shall prepare a budget for each fiscal year and all expenditures 80 shall conform to such budget. The budget shall be prepared and approved by the library 81 board and made available to the members of the governing body of the city and the members 82 of the county governing body sixty days before the beginning of each fiscal year, except the 83 first budget of the merged district shall be prepared forthwith and so delivered after the 84 merger. ✔
Statutes affected: