FIRST REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 295
91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE FROELKER.
Read 1st time January 9, 2001, and 1000 copies ordered printed.
TED WEDEL, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 190.050 and 321.130, RSMo 2000, relating to qualifications for board members of certain political subdivisions, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to the same subject.
Section A. Sections 190.050 and 321.130, RSMo 2000, are repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 190.050 and 321.130, to read as follows:
190.050. 1. After the ambulance district has been declared organized, the declaring county commission, except in counties of the second class having more than one hundred five thousand inhabitants located adjacent to a county of the first class having a charter form of government which has a population of over nine hundred thousand inhabitants, shall divide the district into six election districts as equal in population as possible, and shall by lot number the districts from one to six inclusive. The county commission shall cause an election to be held in the ambulance district within ninety days after the order establishing the ambulance district to elect ambulance district directors. Each voter shall vote for one director from the ambulance election district in which the voter resides. The directors elected from districts one and four shall serve for a term of one year, the directors elected from districts two and five shall serve for a term of two years, and the directors from districts three and six shall serve for a term of three years; thereafter, the terms of all directors shall be three years. All directors shall serve the term to which they were elected or appointed, and until their successors are elected and qualified, except in cases of resignation or disqualification. The county commission shall reapportion the ambulance districts within sixty days after the population of the county is reported to the governor for each decennial census of the United States. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the number of candidates for the office of director is no greater than the number of directors to be elected, no election shall be held, and the candidates shall assume the responsibilities of their offices at the same time and in the same manner as if they have been elected.
2. In all counties of the second class having more than one hundred five thousand inhabitants located adjacent to a county of the first class having a charter form of government which has a population of over nine hundred thousand inhabitants, the voters shall vote for six directors elected at large from within the district for a term of three years. Those directors holding office in any district in such a county on August 13, 1976, shall continue to hold office until the expiration of their terms, and their successors shall be elected from the district at large for a term of three years. In any district formed in such counties after August 13, 1976, the governing body of the county shall cause an election to be held in that district within ninety days after the order establishing the ambulance district to elect ambulance district directors. Each voter shall vote for six directors. The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes at such election shall be elected for a term of three years, the two candidates receiving the third and fourth highest number of votes shall be elected for a term of two years, the two candidates receiving the fifth and sixth highest number of votes shall be elected for a term of one year; thereafter, the term of all directors shall be three years.
3. A candidate for director of the ambulance district shall, at the time of filing, be a citizen of the United States, a qualified voter of the election district as provided in subsection 1 of this section, a resident of the [state for one year] district for five years next preceding the election, and shall be at least [twenty-one] twenty-four years of age. In an established district which is located within the jurisdiction of more than one election authority, the candidate shall file his or her declaration of candidacy with the secretary of the board. In all other districts, a candidate shall file [his] a declaration of candidacy with the county clerk of the county in which he or she resides. A candidate shall file a statement under oath that he or she possesses the required qualifications. No candidate's name shall be printed on any official ballot unless the candidate has filed a written declaration of candidacy pursuant to subsection 5 of section 115.127, RSMo. If the time between the county commission's call for a special election and the date of the election is not sufficient to allow compliance with subsection 5 of section 115.127, RSMo, the county commission shall, at the time it calls the special election, set the closing date for filing declarations of candidacy.
321.130. 1. A person, to be qualified to serve as a director, shall be a voter of the district at least [two] five years prior to his or her election or appointment and be over the age of [twenty-five] twenty-four years; except as provided in subsections 2 and 3 of this section. Nominations and declarations of candidacy shall be filed at the headquarters of the fire protection district by paying a ten dollar filing fee and filing a statement under oath that such person possesses the required qualifications.
2. In any fire protection district located in more than one county one of which is a first class county without a charter form of government having a population of more than one hundred ninety-eight thousand and not adjoining any other first class county or located wholly within a first class county as described herein, a resident shall have been a resident of the district for more than one year to be qualified to serve as a director.
3. In any fire protection district located in a county of the third or fourth classification, a person to be qualified to serve as a director shall be over the age of [twenty-five] twenty-four years and shall be a voter of the county in which the district is located for more than [two] five years prior to his or her election or appointment, except that for the first board of directors in such district, a person need only be a voter of the county in which the district is located for one year prior to his or her election or appointment.
4. A person desiring to become a candidate for the first board of directors of the proposed district shall pay the sum of five
dollars as a filing fee to the treasurer of the county and shall file with the election authority a statement under oath that he
possesses all of the qualifications set out in this chapter for a director of a fire protection district. Thereafter, such candidate
shall have his or her name placed on the ballot as a candidate for director.
Missouri House of Representatives