HOUSE BILL NO. 1541 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE FARNAN.
3169H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To repeal sections 190.050, 190.051, 190.052, and 190.090, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof four new sections relating to ambulance districts.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 190.050, 190.051, 190.052, and 190.090, RSMo, are repealed 2 and four new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 190.050, 190.051, 3 190.052, and 190.090, to read as follows: 190.050. 1. After the ambulance district has been declared organized, the declaring 2 county commission, except in counties of the second class having more than one hundred five 3 thousand inhabitants located adjacent to a county of the first class having a charter form of 4 government which has a population of over nine hundred thousand inhabitants, shall [divide 5 the district into six election districts as equal in population as possible, and shall by lot 6 number the districts from one to six inclusive. The county commission shall] cause an 7 election to be held in the ambulance district within ninety days after the order establishing the 8 ambulance district to elect ambulance district directors. Each voter shall vote for one director 9 from the ambulance [election] district in which the voter resides. The two directors elected 10 [from districts one and four] with the lowest number of votes shall serve for a term of one 11 year, the two directors elected [from districts two and five] with the third and fourth 12 highest number of votes shall serve for a term of two years, and the two directors [from 13 districts three and six] with the highest number of votes shall serve for a term of three years; 14 thereafter, the terms of all directors shall be three years. All directors shall serve the term to 15 which they were elected or appointed, and until their successors are elected and qualified, 16 except in cases of resignation or disqualification. [The county commission shall reapportion
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 1541 2
17 the ambulance districts within sixty days after the population of the county is reported to the 18 governor for each decennial census of the United States.] Notwithstanding any other 19 provision of law, if the number of candidates for the office of director is no greater than the 20 number of directors to be elected, no election shall be held, and the candidates shall assume 21 the responsibilities of their offices at the same time and in the same manner as if they have 22 been elected. 23 2. In all counties of the second class having more than one hundred five thousand 24 inhabitants located adjacent to a county of the first class having a charter form of government 25 which has a population of over nine hundred thousand inhabitants, the voters shall vote for six 26 directors elected at large from within the district for a term of three years. Those directors 27 holding office in any district in such a county on August 13, 1976, shall continue to hold 28 office until the expiration of their terms, and their successors shall be elected from the district 29 at large for a term of three years. In any district formed in such counties after August 13, 30 1976, the governing body of the county shall cause an election to be held in that district 31 within ninety days after the order establishing the ambulance district to elect ambulance 32 district directors. Each voter shall vote for six directors. The two candidates receiving the 33 highest number of votes at such election shall be elected for a term of three years, the two 34 candidates receiving the third and fourth highest number of votes shall be elected for a term of 35 two years, the two candidates receiving the fifth and sixth highest number of votes shall be 36 elected for a term of one year; thereafter, the term of all directors shall be three years. 37 3. A candidate for director of the ambulance district shall, at the time of filing, be a 38 citizen of the United States, [a qualified voter of the election district as provided in subsection 39 1 of this section,] a resident of the district for two years next preceding the election, and shall 40 be at least twenty-four years of age. In an established district which is located within the 41 jurisdiction of more than one election authority, the candidate shall file his or her declaration 42 of candidacy with the secretary of the board. In all other districts, a candidate shall file a 43 declaration of candidacy with the county clerk of the county in which he or she resides. A 44 candidate shall file a statement under oath that he or she possesses the required qualifications. 45 No candidate's name shall be printed on any official ballot unless the candidate has filed a 46 written declaration of candidacy pursuant to subsection 5 of section 115.127. If the time 47 between the county commission's call for a special election and the date of the election is not 48 sufficient to allow compliance with subsection 5 of section 115.127, the county commission 49 shall, at the time it calls the special election, set the closing date for filing declarations of 50 candidacy. 190.051. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 190.050 and 190.052 to the 2 contrary, upon a motion by the board of directors in districts where there are six-member 3 boards, and upon approval by the voters in the district, the number of directors may be HB 1541 3
4 increased to seven [with one board member running district wide,] or decreased to five or 5 three board members. The ballot to be used for the approval of the voters to increase or 6 decrease the number of members on the board of directors of the ambulance district shall be 7 substantially in the following form: 8 Shall the number of members of the board of directors of the ______ (Insert 9 name of district) Ambulance District be (increased to seven members/ 10 decreased to five members/decreased to three members)? 11 ☐ YES ☐ NO 12 2. If a majority of the voters voting on a proposition to increase the number of board 13 members to seven vote in favor of the proposition, then at the next election of board members 14 after the voters vote to increase the number of directors, the voters shall select one person to 15 serve in addition to the existing six directors [as the member who shall run district wide]. 16 3. If a majority of the voters voting on a proposition to decrease the number of board 17 members vote in favor of the proposition, [then the county clerk shall redraw the district into 18 the resulting number of subdistricts with equal population bases and hold elections by 19 subdistricts pursuant to section 190.050] the existing board members shall complete their 20 terms, but at each subsequent election, one seat shall be eligible for reelection until the 21 correct number of directors is reached. Thereafter, members of the board shall be elected 22 to serve terms of three years and until their successors are duly elected and qualified. 23 4. Members of the board of directors in office on the date of an election pursuant to 24 this section to increase or decrease the number of members of the board of directors shall 25 serve the term to which they were elected or appointed and until their successors are elected 26 and qualified. 190.052. Any member of the board of directors who moves residency from the 2 district [from which the member was elected] shall be disqualified as a member of the board. 3 If one or two vacancies occur in the membership of the board as a result of death, resignation, 4 or disqualification, the remaining members shall appoint one or two qualified persons, as 5 provided in section 190.050, to fill the vacancies until the end of the unexpired term. Such 6 appointment shall be made with the consent of a majority of the remaining members of the 7 board. If the board is unable to agree in filling a vacancy within sixty days or if there are 8 more than two vacancies at any one time, the county commission, upon notice from the board 9 of failure to agree in filling the vacancies, shall within ten days fill them by appointment of 10 qualified persons, as provided in section 190.050, and shall notify the persons in writing of 11 their appointment. The persons appointed shall serve for the unexpired term. 190.090. 1. Two or more organized ambulance districts may consolidate into one 2 ambulance district by following the procedures set forth in this section. HB 1541 4
3 2. If the consolidation of existing ambulance districts is desired, a number of voters 4 residing in an existing ambulance district equal to ten percent of the vote cast for governor in 5 the existing district in the next preceding gubernatorial election may file with the county clerk 6 in which the territory or greater part of the proposed consolidated district is situated a petition 7 requesting the consolidation of two or more existing ambulance districts. 8 3. The petition shall be in the following form: 9 We, the undersigned voters of the ______ ambulance district do hereby petition that _ 10 _____ existing ambulance districts be consolidated into one consolidated ambulance district 11 to be known as the __________ ambulance district, subject to the attached consolidation 12 plan. 13 4. An alternative procedure of consolidation may be followed, if the board of 14 directors of the existing ambulance districts pass a resolution in the following form: 15 Be it resolved by the board of directors of the ambulance district that the ______ 16 ambulance districts be consolidated into one consolidated ambulance district to be known as 17 the __________ ambulance district, subject to the attached consolidation plan. 18 5. Every petition or resolution shall be accompanied by a consolidation plan 19 outlining the process for the proposed consolidation. At a minimum, the consolidation 20 plan shall include the following: 21 (1) The name and a legal description of the boundaries of the proposed 22 consolidated district and the proposed tax levy to be imposed by the consolidated 23 district. In the event that the proposed plan is for the consolidation into an existing 24 district, the consolidation plan shall clearly state that the existing district shall continue 25 as the legal entity into which the other districts are consolidated; 26 (2) The names of the districts to be consolidated, accompanied by a list of all real 27 property owned, financial assets currently held, all outstanding bonds or debts, and the 28 current tax levies imposed by each district; 29 (3) The name of the district that shall be responsible for maintaining ambulance 30 service during the consolidation, including continuing operations, administration, and 31 governance of the consolidated district, provided that there shall be a presumption that 32 the district with the largest operating budget in the preceding year shall assume this 33 responsibility; 34 (4) The proposed individuals who will serve as the initial directors, provided that 35 such directors shall be chosen from among the existing board members of the districts to 36 be consolidated, such that there is at least one director from each of the districts to be 37 consolidated; and HB 1541 5
38 (5) A proposed timeline for consolidation, which shall not exceed one hundred 39 eighty days, provided that such timeline shall be subject to modification by the board of 40 the consolidated district for good cause. 41 6. Upon the filing of a petition, or a resolution, and a consolidation plan with the 42 county clerk from each of the ambulance districts proposed to be consolidated, the county 43 clerk shall present the petition or resolution and the consolidation plan to the commissioners 44 of the county [commission having jurisdiction who shall thereupon order the submission of 45 the question to the voters of the districts. The filing of each of the petitions in the ambulance 46 districts shall have occurred within a continuous twelve-month period. 47 6. The notice shall set forth the names of the existing ambulance districts to be 48 included in the consolidated district. 49 7. The question shall be submitted in substantially the following form: 50 Shall the existing ______ ambulance districts be consolidated into one ambulance 51 district? 52 8. If the county commission having jurisdiction finds that the question to consolidate 53 the districts received a majority of the votes cast, the commission shall make and enter its 54 order declaring that the proposition passed. 55 9. Within thirty days after the district has been declared consolidated, the county 56 commission shall divide the district into six election districts and shall order an election to be 57 held and conducted as provided in section 190.050 for the election of directors. 58 10. Within thirty days after the election of the initial board of directors of the district, 59 the directors shall meet and the time and place of the first meeting of the board shall be 60 designated by the county commission. At the first meeting the newly elected board of 61 directors shall choose a name for the consolidated district and shall notify the clerk of the 62 county commission of each county within which the consolidated district is located of the 63 name of the consolidated district. 64 11. On the thirtieth day following the election of the board of directors, the existing 65 ambulance districts shall cease to exist and the consolidated district shall assume all of the 66 powers and duties exercised by those districts. All assets and obligations of the existing 67 ambulance districts shall become assets and obligations of the consolidated district], who 68 shall record such documents in the records of the county. Petitions or resolutions shall 69 be received from all ambulance districts proposed to be consolidated within the same 70 calendar year or they shall be considered null. 71 7. Each of the ambulance districts seeking to consolidate shall post the notice of 72 the intent to consolidate in the same manner that district public meetings are posted. In 73 addition, publication of such notice of intent shall be made in a newspaper of general 74 circulation in every county in which the proposed consolidated ambulance district shall HB 1541 6
75 be located, with publication to be made once per week for two consecutive weeks. A 76 public hearing shall be held jointly by all ambulance districts seeking to consolidate at a 77 location within the boundaries of the proposed consolidated ambulance district, 78 provided that such hearing shall be no more than ten days after the date of the second 79 publication. The notice of intent shall be in substantially the following form: 80 NOTICE OF THE FILING OF A PETITION/RESOLUTION FOR 81 CONSOLIDATION OF THE ______ AMBULANCE DISTRICTS 82 To all voters, residents, and interested persons within the boundaries of 83 the above-described ambulance districts: You are hereby notified that a 84 petition/resolution has been filed for the consolidation of the above- 85 named ambulance districts into one consolidated ambulance district to 86 be known as _____ ambulance district. A proposed consolidation plan 87 is available for inspection at the office of the County Clerk of _____ 88 County. 89 A public hearing will be held on ______ (date) at ________ (time) at the 90 following location: ________. The purpose of this public hearing shall 91 be to explain the reasons for the consolidation and answer questions 92 from the public. 93 Objections to this consolidation may be filed with the County Clerk of _ 94 ____ County, provided such objections are filed in writing not more 95 than thirty days after the public hearing. Any such objection shall be 96 signed by a number of voters not less than five percent of the votes cast 97 for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. 98 8. If no objections are filed with the county clerk within thirty days of the public 99 hearing, subject to the restrictions provided in subsection 11 of this section, within forty- 100 five days following the date of the public hearing, the county commission shall order the 101 districts consolidated in accordance with the terms of the consolidation plan and shall 102 further appoint as directors those individuals identified in the consolidation plan. The 103 county commission shall further set a date, time, and location for the first meeting of the 104 directors of the newly consolidated district. 105 9. Upon receipt of any objections filed, the county clerk shall verify that such 106 objections are signed by the necessary number of voters of the district. If such 107 objections are signed by an appropriate number of voters, the county commission of 108 each county in which the proposed consolidated district is to be located shall thereupon 109 order the submission of the question to the voters of the districts as follows: 110 Shall the existing ______ ambulance districts be consolidated into one ambulance 111 district to be known as the _________ ambulance district, and such consolidated HB 1541 7
112 district be authorized to levy a property tax not to exceed the annual rate of ____ 113 __ cents on the hundred dollars assessed valuation and/or a sales tax in an 114 amount not to exceed ______ percent? 115 116 If the county commission having jurisdiction finds that the question to consolidate the 117 districts received a majority of the votes cast, the commission shall make and enter its 118 order declaring that the proposition passed. The county commission shall further order 119 the districts consolidated in accordance with the terms of the consolidation plan and 120 shall further appoint as directors those individuals identified in the consolidation plan. 121 The county commission shall further set a date, time, and location for the first meeting 122 of the directors of the newly consolidated district. 123 10. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the consolidated 124 district may impose an initial tax levy not to exceed the highest tax levy imposed by the 125 consol