This bill provides that all fourth class counties that would otherwise become third class counties on January 1, 2027, will remain fourth class counties until December 31, 2030 (Section 48.020, RSMo).
Every noncharter county has a salary commission, the members of which are specified in state statute. This bill removes the county prosecuting attorney and county sheriff from the list of members of the salary commission, except in Boone County, where the prosecuting attorney and sheriff will remain on the salary commission.
The bill makes part-time prosecuting attorneys members of the salary commission in any county that utilizes them (Section 50.333).
The bill increases the statutory salary schedules for various county officials. The salary increase will affect all terms beginning after August 28, 2026. Certain salary schedules will be adjusted each year based on a calculation provided in the bill.
County officials included are county commissioners, county recorders of deeds, county clerks, county collectors, county assessors, county treasurers, county collector-treasurers, county auditors, and county public administrators (Sections 49.082, 50.327, 50.334, 51.281, 52.269, 53.082, 54.261, 54.320, 55.091, 58.095, and 473.742).
This bill modifies the compensation of county prosecuting attorneys. Full-time prosecuting attorneys of charter, first, and second class counties, or of a city not within a county, will receive compensation equal to 100% of the compensation of a circuit judge. Full-time prosecuting attorneys of third and fourth class counties will receive compensation equal to 100% of the compensation of an associate circuit judge, or upon approval by a majority of the county commission, the prosecuting attorney will receive compensation equal to 95% of the compensation of the circuit judge. Part-time prosecuting attorneys will receive compensation equal to between 30% and 60% of the compensation of an associate circuit judge. No prosecuting attorney who has held the office of prosecuting attorney prior to January 1, 2027, will have their compensation lowered by the implementation of the compensation procedures of this bill, nor will any prosecuting attorney have their compensation lowered during their tenure of office.
The bill also allows a county with a vacancy in the office of prosecuting attorney for more than 60 days to, upon a unanimous vote of the county commission of that county and the commission of a contiguous county, establish a cooperative regional prosecuting attorney’s office. The prosecuting attorney of the contiguous county will then become the prosecuting attorney of the county with a vacancy until a new prosecuting attorney is appointed or elected in the county. Such regional prosecuting attorneys will be compensated as full-time prosecuting attorneys. No two counties that each have sitting prosecuting attorneys will be permitted to consolidate in the manner described in this bill (Section 56.265).
Statutes affected: