HOUSE BILL NO. 2891 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE GRAGG.
6574H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To repeal sections 115.124, 162.491, 162.492, 162.563, 162.860, 162.910, 178.820, 178.840, 190.050, 198.280, 206.090, 247.217, 249.140, 257.170, 321.130, and 321.210, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof sixteen new sections relating to candidate filing location.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 115.124, 162.491, 162.492, 162.563, 162.860, 162.910, 178.820, 2 178.840, 190.050, 198.280, 206.090, 247.217, 249.140, 257.170, 321.130, and 321.210, 3 RSMo, are repealed and sixteen new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 4 115.124, 162.491, 162.492, 162.563, 162.860, 162.910, 178.820, 178.840, 190.050, 198.280, 5 206.090, 247.217, 249.140, 257.170, 321.130, and 321.210, to read as follows: 115.124. 1. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, in a nonpartisan election 2 in any political subdivision or special district including municipal elections in any city, town, 3 or village with two thousand or fewer inhabitants that have adopted a proposal pursuant to 4 subsection 3 of this section but excluding municipal elections in any city, town, or village 5 with more than two thousand inhabitants, if the notice provided for in subsection 5 of section 6 115.127 has been published in at least one newspaper of general circulation as defined in 7 section 493.050 in the district, and if the number of candidates for each office in a particular 8 political subdivision, special district, or municipality is equal to the number of positions for 9 each office within the political subdivision, special district, or municipality to be filled by the 10 election and no ballot measure is placed on the ballot such that a particular political 11 subdivision will owe no proportional elections costs if an election is not held, no election 12 shall be held, and the candidates shall assume the responsibilities of their offices at the same 13 time and in the same manner as if they had been elected. If no election is held for a particular
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 2891 2
14 political subdivision, special district, or municipality as provided in this section, the election 15 authority shall publish a notice containing the names of the candidates that shall assume the 16 responsibilities of office under this section. Such notice shall be published in at least one 17 newspaper of general circulation as defined in section 493.050 in such political subdivision or 18 district by the first of the month in which the election would have occurred, had it been 19 contested. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, if at any election the 20 number of candidates filing for a particular office exceeds the number of positions to be filled 21 at such election, the election authority shall hold the election as scheduled, even if a sufficient 22 number of candidates withdraw from such contest for that office so that the number of 23 candidates remaining after the filing deadline is equal to the number of positions to be filled. 24 2. The election authority [or political subdivision] responsible for the oversight of the 25 filing of candidates in any nonpartisan election in any political subdivision or special district 26 shall clearly designate where candidates shall form a line to effectuate such filings and 27 determine the order of such filings; except that, in the case of candidates who file a 28 declaration of candidacy with the election authority [or political subdivision] prior to 5:00 29 p.m. on the first day for filing, the election authority [or political subdivision may] shall 30 determine by random drawing the order in which such candidates' names shall appear on the 31 ballot. [If a] Such drawing [is conducted pursuant to this subsection, it] shall be conducted so 32 that each candidate, or candidate's representative if the candidate filed under subsection 2 of 33 section 115.355, may draw a number at random at the time of filing. [If such drawing is 34 conducted,] The election authority [or political subdivision] shall record the number drawn 35 with the candidate's declaration of candidacy. [If such drawing is conducted,] The names of 36 candidates filing on the first day of filing for each office on each ballot shall be listed in 37 ascending order of the numbers so drawn. 38 3. The governing body of any city, town, or village with two thousand or fewer 39 inhabitants may submit to the voters at any available election, a question to adopt the 40 provisions of subsection 1 of this section for municipal elections. If a majority of the votes 41 cast by the qualified voters voting thereon are in favor of the question, then the city, town, or 42 village shall conduct nonpartisan municipal elections as provided in subsection 1 of this 43 section for all nonpartisan elections remaining in the year in which the proposal was adopted 44 and for the six calendar years immediately following such approval. At the end of such six- 45 year period, each such city, town, or village shall be prohibited from conducting such 46 elections in such a manner unless such a question is again adopted by the majority of 47 qualified voters as provided in this subsection. 48 4. (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the 49 appropriate election authority for all nonpartisan elections conducted in a political 50 subdivision or special district as described in this section shall be the election authority HB 2891 3
51 as established in section 115.015 for the city or county, as applicable, in which such 52 political subdivision or special district is located. 53 (2) For a nonpartisan election for a political subdivision or special district 54 located within the jurisdiction of more than one election authority, the election authority 55 of the jurisdiction with the greatest proportion of the political subdivision's or special 56 district's registered voters shall be the appropriate election authority and subsections 2 57 and 3 of section 115.023 shall apply. 162.491. 1. Directors for urban school districts, other than those districts containing 2 the greater part of a city of over one hundred thirty thousand inhabitants, may be nominated 3 by petition to be filed with the [secretary of the board] appropriate election authority and 4 signed by a number of voters in the district equal to ten percent of the total number of votes 5 cast for the director receiving the highest number of votes cast at the next preceding biennial 6 election, except as provided in subsection 4 of this section. 7 2. This section shall not be construed as providing the sole method of nominating 8 candidates for the office of school director in urban school districts that do not contain the 9 greater part of a city of over three hundred thousand inhabitants. 10 3. A director for any urban school district containing a city of greater than one 11 hundred thirty thousand inhabitants and less than three hundred thousand inhabitants may be 12 nominated as an independent candidate by filing with the [secretary of the board] 13 appropriate election authority a petition signed by five hundred registered voters of such 14 school district. 15 4. In any urban school district located in a county of the first classification with more 16 than eighty-three thousand but fewer than ninety-two thousand inhabitants and with a home 17 rule city with more than seventy-six thousand but fewer than ninety-one thousand inhabitants 18 as the county seat, a candidate for director shall file a declaration of candidacy with the 19 [secretary of the board] appropriate election authority and shall not be required to submit a 20 petition. 21 5. No candidate for election as a school board director representing a subdistrict as 22 provided in section 162.563 shall be required to file a declaration of candidacy as provided in 23 this section as the sole method of filing for candidacy. 162.492. 1. In all urban districts containing the greater part of the population of a city 2 which has more than three hundred thousand inhabitants, the election authority of the city in 3 which the greater portion of the school district lies, and of the county if the district includes 4 territory not within the city limits, shall serve ex officio as a redistricting commission. The 5 commission shall on or before November 1, 2018, divide the school district into five 6 subdistricts, all subdistricts being of compact and contiguous territory and as nearly equal in 7 the number of inhabitants as practicable and thereafter the board shall redistrict the district HB 2891 4
8 into subdivisions as soon as practicable after each United States decennial census. In 9 establishing the subdistricts each member shall have one vote and a majority vote of the total 10 membership of the commission is required to make effective any action of the commission. 11 2. School elections for the election of directors shall be held on municipal election 12 days in 2014 and 2016. At the election in 2014, directors shall be elected to hold office until 13 2019 and until their successors are elected and qualified. At the election in 2016, directors 14 shall be elected until 2019 and until their successors are elected and qualified. Beginning in 15 2019, school elections for the election of directors shall be held on the local election date as 16 specified in the charter of a home rule city with more than four hundred thousand inhabitants 17 and located in more than one county. Beginning at the election for school directors in 2019, 18 the number of directors on the board shall be reduced from nine to seven. Two directors shall 19 be at-large directors and five directors shall represent the subdistricts, with one director from 20 each of the subdistricts. At the 2019 election, one of the at-large directors and the directors 21 from subdistricts one, three, and five shall be elected for a two-year term, and the other at- 22 large director and the directors from subdistricts two and four shall be elected for a four-year 23 term. Thereafter, all seven directors shall serve a four-year term. Directors shall serve until 24 the next election and until their successors, then elected, are duly qualified as provided in this 25 section. In addition to other qualifications prescribed by law, each member elected from a 26 subdistrict shall be a resident of the subdistrict from which he or she is elected. The 27 subdistricts shall be numbered from one to five. 28 3. The five candidates, one from each of the subdistricts, who receive a plurality of 29 the votes cast by the voters of that subdistrict and the at-large candidates receiving a plurality 30 of the at-large votes shall be elected. The name of no candidate for nomination shall be 31 printed on the ballot unless the candidate has at least sixty days prior to the election filed a 32 declaration of candidacy with the [secretary of the board of directors] appropriate election 33 authority containing the signatures of at least two hundred fifty registered voters who are 34 residents of the subdistrict within which the candidate for nomination to a subdistrict office 35 resides, and in case of at-large candidates the signatures of at least five hundred registered 36 voters. The election authority shall determine the validity of all signatures on declarations of 37 candidacy. 38 4. In any election either for at-large candidates or candidates elected by the voters of 39 subdistricts, if there are more than two candidates, a majority of the votes are not required to 40 elect but the candidate having a plurality of the votes shall be elected. 41 5. The names of all candidates shall appear upon the ballot without party designation 42 and in the order of the priority [of the times of filing their petitions of nomination] as 43 established in section 115.124. No candidate may file both at large and from a subdistrict 44 and the names of all candidates shall appear only once on the ballot, nor may any candidate HB 2891 5
45 file more than one declaration of candidacy. All declarations shall designate the candidate's 46 residence and whether the candidate is filing at large or from a subdistrict and the numerical 47 designation of the subdistrict or at-large area. 48 6. The provisions of all sections relating to seven-director school districts shall also 49 apply to and govern urban districts in cities of more than three hundred thousand inhabitants, 50 to the extent applicable and not in conflict with the provisions of those sections specifically 51 relating to such urban districts. 52 7. Vacancies which occur on the school board shall be filled in the manner provided 53 in section 162.471. 162.563. 1. As used in this section, the following terms mean: 2 (1) "School board", the board vested with the government and control of a school 3 district as described in section 162.261 or section 162.471; 4 (2) "School district", a seven-director school district or an urban school district 5 established in this chapter. 6 2. A school board may divide the school district into seven subdistricts or a 7 combination of subdistricts and at-large districts and establish the election of school board 8 members as provided in this section. 9 3. (1) A school board desiring to divide a school district as provided in this section 10 shall vote on the question of dividing the district as provided in this section. Upon the 11 approval of the question by at least four members of the school board, the school board shall 12 develop a proposed plan as described in subdivision (2) of this subsection. 13 (2) A school board dividing a school district as provided in this section shall develop 14 and adopt a proposed plan for the division of the school district. Such proposed plan shall be 15 adopted upon the approval of at least four members of the school board and shall contain at 16 least the following information: 17 (a) A summary of the proposed plan for dividing the school district; 18 (b) A statement indicating whether the school district will be divided into seven 19 subdistricts or a combination of subdistricts and at-large districts; 20 (c) A description of the areas of the school district each newly elected school board 21 member will represent, with each subdistrict and at-large district represented by a number; 22 (d) A statement indicating whether the existing school board members will be 23 replaced by the newly elected school board members at one election or in succeeding 24 elections to provide for staggered terms of the members; and 25 (e) Any other information deemed necessary by the school board. 26 (3) After the school board develops such proposed plan, the school board shall 27 immediately notify the election authority of the county in which the school district is located. 28 Upon receiving such notification, the election authority shall submit the question of whether HB 2891 6
29 to divide the school district as described in the proposed plan to the voters of the school 30 district on the next available day for any municipal election. If a majority of the registered 31 voters of the school district voting on the question approve the division of the school district, 32 the school board shall follow the procedures described in subsection 4 of this section. If a 33 majority of the registered voters of the school district voting on the question reject the 34 division of the school district, no division as described in this section shall occur. 35 4. (1) After approval of a question submitted under subdivision (3) of subsection 3 of 36 this section, a school board dividing a school district as provided in this section shall adopt a 37 final plan for the division of the school district based on the proposed plan developed under 38 subsection 3 of this section. Such final plan shall contain at least the following information: 39 (a) A summary of the proposed plan for dividing the school district; 40 (b) The time and place of at least two public hearings to be held to consider the 41 proposed plan; 42 (c) A statement indicating whether the school district will be divided into seven 43 subdistricts or a combination of subdistricts and at-large districts; 44 (d) A description of the areas of the school district each newly elected school board 45 member will represent, with each subdistrict and at-large district represented by a number; 46 (e) A statement indicating whether the existing school board members will be 47 replaced by the newly elected school board members at one election or in succeeding 48 elections to provide for staggered terms of the members; and 49 (f) Any other information deemed necessary by the school board. 50 (2) For each hearing held as provided in this subsection, the school board shall: 51 (a) Publish notice of the hearing, the proposed plan, and any amendments to the 52 proposed plan adopted at a previous hearing on the school district's website and by any other 53 method allowed by law, with the first publication to occur no more than thirty days before the 54 hearing and the second publication to occur no earlier than fifteen days and no later than ten 55 days before the hearing; 56 (b) Hear all alternate proposals for division of the school district and receive evidence 57 for or against such alternate proposals; 58 (c) Hear all protests and receive evidence for or against such proposed division; 59 (d) Vote on each alternate proposal and protest, which vote shall be the final 60 determination of such alternate proposal or protest; 61 (e) Adopt any amendments to the proposed plan; and 62 (f) Perform any other actions related to the proposed plan deemed necessary by the 63 school board. HB 2891 7
64 (3) (a) After the conclusion of the final hearing proceedings but before adjourning 65 such hearing, the school board shall adopt the final plan to divide the school district 66 developed as a result of the hearings. 67 (b) After the school board adopts the final plan, the school board shall present the 68 final plan to the election authority of the county in which the school district is located for 69 actions required under subdivision (4) of this subsection and publish