115.607. County committee, eligibility requirements, selection of.
County committee, eligibility requirements, selection of.
115.607. 1. No person shall be elected or shall serve as a member ofa county committee who is not, for one year next before the person'selection, both a registered voter of and a resident of the county and thecommittee district from which the person is elected if such district shallhave been so long established, and if not, then of the district ordistricts from which the same shall have been taken. Except as provided insubsections 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of this section, the membership of a countycommittee of each established political party shall consist of a man and awoman elected from each township or ward in the county.
2. In each county of the first classification containing the majorportion of a city which has over three hundred thousand inhabitants, twomembers of the committee, a man and a woman, shall be elected from eachward in the city. Any township entirely contained in the city shall haveno additional representation on the county committee. The electionauthority for the county shall, not later than six months after thedecennial census has been reported to the President of the United States,divide the most populous township outside the city into eight subdistrictsof contiguous and compact territory and as nearly equal in population aspracticable. The subdistricts shall be numbered from one upwardconsecutively, which numbers shall, insofar as practicable, be retainedupon reapportionment. Two members of the county committee, a man and awoman, shall be elected from each such subdistrict. Six members of thecommittee, three men and three women, shall be elected from the second andthird most populous townships outside the city. Four members of thecommittee, two men and two women, shall be elected from the other townshipsoutside the city.
3. In any city which has over three hundred thousand inhabitants, themajor portion of which is located in a county with a charter form ofgovernment, for the portion of the city located within such county andnotwithstanding section 82.110, RSMo, it shall be the duty of the electionauthority, not later than six months after the decennial census has beenreported to the President of the United States, to divide such cities intonot less than twenty-four nor more than twenty-five wards after eachdecennial census. Wards shall be so divided that the number of inhabitantsin any ward shall not exceed any other ward of the city and within the samecounty, by more than five percent, measured by the number of theinhabitants determined at the preceding decennial census.
4. In each county of the first classification containing a portion,but not the major portion, of a city which has over three hundred thousandinhabitants, ten members of the committee, five men and five women, shallbe elected from the district of each state representative wholly containedin the county in the following manner: within six months after eachlegislative reapportionment, the election authority shall divide eachlegislative district wholly contained in the county into five committeedistricts of contiguous territory as compact and as nearly equal inpopulation as may be; two members of the committee, a man and a woman,shall be elected from each committee district. The election authorityshall divide the area of the county located within legislative districtsnot wholly contained in the county into similar committee districts; twomembers of the committee, a man and a woman, shall be elected from eachcommittee district.
5. In each city not situated in a county, two members of thecommittee, a man and a woman, shall be elected from each ward.
6. In all counties with a charter form of government and a populationof over nine hundred thousand inhabitants, the county committee personsshall be elected from each township. Within ninety days after August 28,2002, and within six months after each decennial census has been reportedto the President of the United States, the election authority shall dividethe county into twenty-eight compact and contiguous townships containingpopulations as nearly equal in population to each other as is practical.
7. If any election authority has failed to adopt a reapportionmentplan by the deadline set forth in this section, the county commission,sitting as a reapportionment commission, shall within sixty days after thedeadline, adopt a reapportionment plan. Changes of township, ward, orprecinct lines shall not affect the terms of office of incumbent partycommittee members elected from districts as constituted at the time oftheir election.
(L. 1977 H.B. 101 § 14.010, A.L. 1978 H.B. 1820, A.L. 1982 S.B. 526, A.L. 1986 H.B. 1471, et al., A.L. 1993 S.B. 31, A.L. 2002 S.B. 675, A.L. 2004 H.B. 988)(2004) As political party offices do not constitute public offices, section requiring equal gender representation of a county committee does not violate state constitutional guarantees. Tompras v. Board of Election Commissioners of St. Louis County, 136 S.W.3d 65 (Mo.banc).