321.300. Boundaries of districts may be changed, procedure, certain counties--additional training not required, when.
Boundaries of districts may be changed, procedure, certaincounties--additional training not required, when.
321.300. 1. The boundaries of any district organized pursuant to theprovisions of this chapter may be changed in the manner prescribed in thissection; but any change of boundaries of the district shall not impair oraffect its organization or its rights in or to property, or any of itsrights or privileges whatsoever; nor shall it affect or impair or dischargeany contract, obligation, lien or charge for or upon which it might beliable or chargeable had any change of boundaries not been made.
2. The boundaries may be changed as follows:
(1) Twenty-five percent of the number of voters who voted in the mostrecent gubernatorial election in the area to be annexed may file with theboard a petition in writing praying that such real property be includedwithin the district; provided that in the case of a municipality havingless than twenty percent of its total population in one fire protectiondistrict, the entire remaining portion may be included in another districtso that none of the city is outside of a fire protection district at thetime. The petition shall describe the property to be included in thedistrict and shall describe the property owned by the petitioners and shallbe deemed to give assent of the petitioners to the inclusion in thedistrict of the property described in the petition; and such petition shallbe in substantially the form set forth in section 321.495 dealing withreferendums and verified in like manner; provided, however, that in theevent that there are more than twenty-five property owners or taxpayingelectors signing the petition, it shall be deemed sufficient description oftheir property in the petition as required in this section to list theaddresses of such property; or
(2) All of the owners of any territory or tract of land near oradjacent to a fire protection district who own all of the real estate insuch territory or tract of land may file a petition with the board prayingthat such real property be included in the district. The petition shalldescribe the property owned by the petitioners and shall be deemed to giveassent of the petitioners to the inclusion in the district of the propertydescribed in the petition;
(3) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, in any fireprotection district which is partly or wholly located in a nonchartercounty of the first classification with a population of less than onehundred thousand which adjoins any county of the first classification witha charter form of government with a population of nine hundred thousand ormore inhabitants, if such fire protection district serves any portion of acity which is located in both such counties, the boundaries of the districtmay be expanded so as to include the entire city within the fire protectiondistrict, but the boundaries of the district shall not be expanded beyondthe city limits of such city, as the boundaries of such city existed onJanuary 1, 1993. Such change in the boundaries of the district shall beaccomplished only if twenty-five percent of the number of voters who votedin the most recent gubernatorial election in the area to be annexed filewith the board a petition in writing praying that such real property beincluded within the district. The petition shall describe the property tobe included in the district and shall describe the property owned by thepetitioners and shall be deemed to give assent of the petitioners to theinclusion in the district of the property described in the petition; andsuch petition shall be in substantially the form set forth in section321.495 dealing with referendums and verified in like manner.
3. The secretary of the board shall cause notice of the filing of anypetition filed pursuant to this section to be given and published in thecounty in which the property is located, which notice shall recite thefiling of such petition, the number of petitioners, a general descriptionof the boundaries of the area proposed to be included and the prayer of thepetitioners; giving notice to all persons interested to appear at theoffice of the board at the time named in the notice and show cause inwriting, if any they have, why the petition should not be granted. Theboard shall at the time and place mentioned, or at such time or times towhich the hearing may be adjourned, proceed to hear the petition and allobjections thereto presented in writing by any person showing cause why thepetition should not be granted. The failure of any person interested toshow cause in writing why such petition shall not be granted shall bedeemed as an assent on his part to the inclusion of such lands in thedistrict as prayed for in the petition.
4. If the board deems it for the best interest of the district, itshall grant the petition, but if the board determines that some portion ofthe property mentioned in the petition cannot as a practical matter beserved by the district, or if it deems it for the best interest of thedistrict that some portion of the property in the petition not be includedin the district, then the board shall grant the petition in part only. Ifthe petition is granted, the board shall make an order to that effect andfile the same with the circuit clerk; and upon the order of the courthaving jurisdiction over the district, the property shall be included inthe district. If the petition contains the signatures of all the owners ofthe property pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (2) of subsection 2of this section, the property shall be included in the district upon theorder of the court. If the petition contains the signatures of twenty-fivepercent of the number of voters who voted in the most recent gubernatorialelection in the area to be annexed pursuant to subdivision (1) orsubdivision (3) of subsection 2 of this section, the property shall beincluded in the district subject to the election provided in section321.301. The circuit court having jurisdiction over the district shallproceed to make any such order including such additional property withinthe district as is provided in the order of the board, unless the courtshall find that such order of the board was not authorized by law or thatsuch order of the board was not supported by competent and substantialevidence.
5. Any person aggrieved by any decision of the board made pursuant tothe provisions of this section may appeal that decision to the circuitcourt of the county in which the property is located within thirty days ofthe decision by the board.
6. No fire protection district, or employee thereof, in whichterritory is annexed pursuant to this section shall be required to complywith any prescribed firefighter training program or regimen which would nototherwise apply to the district or its employees, but for the requirementsapplicable to the annexed territory.
(L. 1947 V. I p. 432 § 31, A.L. 1953 p. 664, A.L. 1969 H.B. 322, A.L. 1982 H.B. 1096, A.L. 1990 S.B. 862, A.L. 1993 S.B. 256, A.L. 1997 S.B. 21)Effective 7-7-97
(2000) Section does not expressly or impliedly repeal common law doctrine of prior jurisdiction. Tipton Rural Fire Protection District v. Objectors, 34 S.W.3d 404 (Mo.App.W.D.).