Understanding Missouri's Constitutional Government

6. Miscellaneous Articles: Articles VI–XIII

6 Miscellaneous Articles Articles VI–XIII Articles VI–XIII of the Missouri Constitution deal with a great variety of issues, topics as diverse as providing a framework for local governmental units such as counties and cities to the penalty for nepotism. Other subjects considered are taxation, education, railroads, corporations, banks, suffrage and elections, public officers, the manner in which amendments are proposed and adopted, and rules governing public employees. These represent the variety of powers left to the states by the U.S. Constitution that Missouri has chosen to specifically outline in its constitution. Prior to a description of what the Constitution specifically says about each of these miscellaneous articles, we will, as has been our habit throughout this book, provide a description of the practical manifestation of the area of government. On some articles this will be short, reflecting their self-evident role; on others there will be more to say. For example, Article VI, “Local Governments,” deals with the establishment of local governments . This topic will need a longer discussion because of the centrality of the topic to the understanding of Missouri government. Article VI: Local Governments Obviously, a major responsibility of the constitution is to establish the legal foundation for local governments: counties, townships, municipalities , and special districts. This can get complex if the state wants to be a close overseer. In order to give significant local control over local government organization, however, the constitution outlines the ability of most 123 124 Understanding Missouri’s Constitutional Government counties (population greater than eighty-five thousand) and larger cities, by popular vote, to set up their own government through the “charter” process. A charter is the equivalent of a local constitution in that it establishes , under general state guidelines, the type of government structure the local entity favors, the means by which it will operate, and the extent and powers of its elected officials. Most of the larger local governments are under charters; however, smaller units fall under general rules set by the constitution. Counties Counties are the fundamental subgovernmental units of the state. All parts of Missouri are within a county except for St. Louis. Because it was of significant size when the 1875 constitution was written, it had the geographical size and political influence to establish itself as the sole governmental unit for the city. Thus, though there is a St. Louis County that surrounds the city, the city is not within that county and must perform the duties of a county as well as those of a city. Paradoxically, then, St. Louis is both a city and a pseudocounty. The Missouri Constitution outlines the foundations of county government , but leaves a great deal of the specifics to the General Assembly. For example, it allows for up to four classifications of counties but lets the legislature establish and define the qualifications for each classification. The basis for the classifications is not population size but rather the value of property assessment. The legislature periodically adjusts the values to redefine the four classifications; currently, the Class 1 counties (13 of them) have $600 million or more and Class 2 counties (6) have $460-$600 million in valuation. Class 3 counties have less than $460 million in valuation; there are 90 of them. There are only 2 poor Class 4 counties. In addition, the constitution allows for larger counties (population of eighty-five thousand in this case) to establish charter governments by vote of the citizens of the county. Of necessity, these are more complex systems and structures of government with singular, separately elected county executives as well as larger, district-based county legislatures. Only 4 counties are chartered: Jackson, St. Charles, St. Louis, and Greene, though the City of St. Louis is chartered for both city and county operation. This all means there are 114 counties plus St. Louis (city and county) in Missouri, the third-largest number in the nation. 125 Articles VI–XIII Noncharter counties are directed to have a county government led by simply a three-person board—called county commissions. One commissioner is elected countywide and is the presiding commissioner, and the other two are elected from districts (North-South or East-West). In addition , separate county officials are independently elected to perform specific functions that are integral to what counties do. County governments provide a variety of functions that vary from county to county, especially between charter and noncharter counties. For smaller...