Section 67.287 - Minimum standards for municipalities in St. Louis County - definitions - failure to meet minimum standards, remedy, ballot language1. As used in this section, the following terms mean:(1)"Minimum standards", adequate and material provision of each of the items listed in subsection 2 of this section;(2)"Municipality", any city, town, or village located in any county with a charter form of government and with more than nine hundred fifty thousand inhabitants;(3)"Peace officer", any peace officer as defined in section 590.010 who is licensed under chapter 590.2. Every municipality shall meet the following minimum standards within three years of August 28, 2015, by providing the following municipal services, financial services, and reports, except that the provision of subdivision (6) of this subsection shall be completed within six years: (1) A balanced annual budget listing anticipated revenues and expenditures, as required in section 67.010;(2) An annual audit by a certified public accountant of the finances of the municipality that includes a report on the internal controls utilized by the municipality to prevent misuse of public funds. The municipality also shall include its current procedures that show compliance with or reasonable exceptions to the recommended internal controls;(3) A cash management and accounting system that accounts for all revenues and expenditures;(4) Adequate levels of insurance to minimize risk to include:(a) General liability coverage;(b) If applicable, liability coverage with endorsements to cover emergency medical personnel and paramedics;(c) If applicable, police professional liability coverage;(d) Workers compensation benefits for injured employees under the provisions of chapter 287; and(e) Bonds for local officials as required by section 77.390, 79.260, 80.250, or local charter;(5) Access to a complete set of ordinances adopted by the governing body available to the public within ten business days of a written request. An online version of the regulations or code shall satisfy this requirement for those ordinances that are codified;(6) If a municipality has a police department or contracts with another police department for public safety services, a police department accredited or certified by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies or the Missouri Police Chiefs Association or a contract for police service with a police department accredited or certified by such entities;(7) Written policies regarding the safe operation of emergency vehicles, including a policy on police pursuit;(8) Written policies regarding the use of force by peace officers;(9) Written general orders for a municipal police department unless contracting with another municipality or county for police services;(10) Written policies for collecting and reporting all crime and police stop data for the municipality as required by law. Such policies shall be forwarded to the attorney general's office;(11) Construction code review by existing staff, directly or by contract with a public or private agency. The provisions of this subdivision shall not require the municipality to adopt an updated construction code; and(12) Information published annually on the website of the municipality indicating how the municipality met the standards in this subsection. If there is no municipal website, the information shall be submitted to the county for publication on its website, if it has a website.3. If any resident of a municipality has belief or knowledge that such municipality has failed to ensure that the standards listed in subsection 2 of this section are regularly provided and are likely to continue to be provided, he or she may make an affidavit before any person authorized to administer oaths setting forth the facts alleging the failure to meet the required standards and file the affidavit with the attorney general. It shall be the duty of the attorney general, if, in his or her opinion, the facts stated in the affidavit justify, to declare whether the municipality is operating below minimum standards, and if it is, the municipality shall have sixty days to rectify the deficiencies in services noted by the attorney general. If after sixty days the municipality is still deemed by the attorney general to have failed to rectify sufficient minimum standards to be in compliance with those specified by subsection 2 of this section, the attorney general may file suit in the circuit court of the county. If the court finds that the municipality is not in compliance with the minimum standards specified in subsection 2 of this section, the circuit court of the county shall order the following remedies: (1) Appointment of an administrative authority for the municipality including, but not limited to, another political subdivision, the state, or a qualified private party to administer all revenues under the name of the municipality or its agents and all funds collected on behalf of the municipality. If the court orders an administrative authority to administer the revenues under this subdivision, it may send an order to the director of revenue or other party charged with distributing tax revenue, as identified by the attorney general, to distribute such revenues and funds to the administrative authority who shall use such revenues and existing funds to provide the services required under a plan approved by the court. The court shall enter an order directing all financial and other institutions holding funds of the municipality, as identified by the attorney general, to honor the directives of the administrative authority;(2) If the court finds that the minimum standards specified in subsection 2 of this section still are not established at the end of ninety days from the time the court finds that the municipality is not in compliance with the minimum standards specified in subsection 2 of this section, the court may either enter an order disincorporating the municipality or order placed on the ballot the question of whether to disincorporate the municipality as provided in subdivisions (1), (2), (4), and (5) of subsection 3 of section 479.368. The court also shall place the question of disincorporation on the ballot as provided by subdivisions (1), (2), (4), and (5) of subsection 3 of section 479.368 if at least twenty percent of the registered voters residing in the subject municipality or forty percent of the number of voters who voted in the last municipal election, whichever is lesser, submit a petition to the court while the matter is pending, seeking disincorporation. The question shall be submitted to the voters in substantially the following form: The city/town/village of ______ has failed to meet minimum standards of governance as required by law. Shall the city/town/village of ______ be dissolved? |
[] YES | [] NO |
If electors vote to disincorporate, the court shall determine the date upon which the disincorporation shall occur, taking into consideration a logical transition.
4. The court shall have ongoing jurisdiction to enforce its orders and carry out the remedies in subsection 3 of this section.Amended by 2016 Mo. Laws, SB 572,s A, eff. 8/28/2016.Added by 2015 Mo. Laws, SB 5,s A, eff. 8/28/2015.