Read 1st time January 20, 2000, and 1000 copies ordered printed.
ANNE C. WALKER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal section 71.285, RSMo 1994, relating to municipal removal of weeds, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the same subject, with penalty provisions.
Section A. Section 71.285, RSMo 1994, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 71.285, to read as follows:
71.285. 1. Whenever weeds, in violation of an ordinance, are allowed to grow on any part of any lot or ground within any city, town or village in this state, the owner of the ground, or in case of joint tenancy, tenancy by entireties or tenancy in common, each owner thereof, shall be liable. The marshal or other city official as designated in such ordinance shall give a hearing after ten days' notice thereof, either personally or by United States mail to the owner or owners, or his, her or their agents, or by posting such notice on the premises; thereupon, the marshal or other designated city official may declare the weeds to be a nuisance and order the same to be abated within five days[; and]. The marshal or other city official as designated in such ordinance shall also be empowered to issue a summons to the property owner or fee holder of interest after proper notification of tall weeds or trash or both being present on the property in question, whereby the property owner shall appear in municipal court to answer to the complaint as issued. In the event that the weeds or trash or both are removed and the violation abated, then the relevant court costs shall be charged to the property owner or fee holder of interest so summoned. If the violation has not been abated by the established court date, the judge may find the property owner or fee holder of interest guilty of a class C misdemeanor. In disposing of the case the municipal judge shall order the owner to abate the violation in a timely manner. In the event that the property is not disposed of and the weeds or trash or both remain, the municipality shall follow the processes of clearing the property and establishing a lien as established in this section. In case the weeds are not cut down and removed or the trash is not removed or both within the five days, the marshal or other designated city official shall have the weeds cut down and removed, the trash removed, or both, and shall certify the costs of same to the city clerk, who shall cause a special tax bill therefor against the property to be prepared and to be collected by the collector, with other taxes assessed against the property; and the tax bill from the date of its issuance shall be a first lien on the property until paid and shall be prima facie evidence of the recitals therein and of its validity, and no mere clerical error or informality in the same, or in the proceedings leading up to the issuance, shall be a defense thereto. Each special tax bill shall be issued by the city clerk and delivered to the collector on or before the first day of June of each year. Such tax bills if not paid when due shall bear interest at the rate of eight percent per annum. Notwithstanding the time limitations of this section, any city, town or village [located in a county of the first classification] may hold the hearing provided in this section four days after notice is sent or posted, and may order at the hearing that the weeds, trash, or both shall be abated within five business days after the hearing and if such weeds are not cut down and removed or such trash removed or both within five business days after the hearing, the order shall allow the city to immediately remove the weeds, trash, or both pursuant to this section. Except for lands owned by a public utility, rights-of-way, and easements appurtenant or incidental to lands controlled by any railroad, the department of highways and transportation, the department of natural resources or the department of conservation, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any city with a population of at least seventy thousand inhabitants which is located in a county of the first classification with a population of less than one hundred thousand inhabitants which adjoins a county with a population of less than one hundred thousand inhabitants that contains part of a city with a population of three hundred fifty thousand or more inhabitants, any city with a population of one hundred thousand or more inhabitants which is located within a county of the first classification that adjoins no other county of the first classification, or any city, town or village located within a county of the first classification with a charter form of government with a population of nine hundred thousand or more inhabitants, or any city with a population of three hundred fifty thousand or more inhabitants which is located in more than one county, or the city of St. Louis, where such city, town or village establishes its own procedures for abatement of weeds, and such city may charge its costs of collecting the tax bill, including attorney fees, in the event a lawsuit is required to enforce a tax bill.
2. [Except as provided in subsection 3 of this section, if weeds are allowed to grow on the same property in violation of an ordinance more than once during the same growing season in any city with a population of three hundred fifty thousand or more inhabitants which is located in more than one county, in the city of St. Louis or in any city, town or village located in a county of the first classification with a charter form of government with a population of nine hundred thousand or more inhabitants, the marshal or other designated city official may order that the weeds be abated within five business days after notice is sent to or posted on the property. In case the weeds are not cut down and removed within the five days, the marshal or other designated city official may have the weeds cut down and removed and the cost of the same shall be billed in the manner described in subsection 1 of this section.
3.] If weeds are allowed to grow on the same property in violation of an ordinance more than once during the same growing season in any city [with a population of three hundred fifty thousand or more inhabitants which is located in more than one county, in the city of St. Louis or in any city, town or village located in a county of the first classification with a charter form of government with a population of nine hundred thousand or more inhabitants], the marshal or other designated official may, without further notification, have the weeds cut down and removed and the cost of the same shall be billed in the manner described in subsection 1 of this section. The provisions of [subsection 2 and] this subsection do not apply to lands owned by a public utility and lands, rights-of-way, and easements appurtenant or incidental to lands controlled by any railroad.
[4.] 3. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any city with a population of one hundred thousand or more
inhabitants which is located within a county of the first classification that adjoins no other county of the first classification
where such city establishes its own procedures for abatement of weeds, and such city may charge its costs of collecting
the tax bill, including attorney fees, in the event a lawsuit is required to enforce a tax bill.
Missouri House of Representatives