Missouri Senate

House Committee Substitute

HEALTH PROFESSIONALS - Sections 44.045 and 105.711 - Health care professionals who volunteer to be deployed in a state emergency may be deployed and otherwise confidential contact information may be released to facilitate such deployment. Any claim against the professionals based on acts or omissions during the period of deployment are covered under the State Legal Expense Fund.

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE - 92.755 - Requires a notice of foreclosure in suits for delinquent land taxes in Kansas City and St. Louis to be posted on the affected property.

STATE LEGAL EXPENSE FUND - 105.711 - Exempts the police boards of Kansas City and St. Louis City from coverage under the fund. Modifies the limit of coverage under the fund to pay a claimant in a claim or judgment against an officer or employee of the state or a state agency. If payment is made from the fund, such payment shall be the exclusive remedy for the claimant. This provision is similar to SS/SB 220 (2005).

CHILD PROTECTION - 210.117 AND 211.038 - This act prohibits a child, who has been taken into the custody of the state or the jurisdiction of a juvenile court, from being reunited with a parent or being placed back in the home in which the parent or any person living in the home has been found guilty or plead guilty to certain sexual offenses or offenses against the family when a child was the victim. The Child Support Division may exercise discretion in the placement of a child in a home with a parent when the parent or person living in the home has been found guilty or plead guilty for similar offenses in another state. The act prohibits a minor from residing within a certain distance of a child abused by the minor. These provisions are similar to HCS#2/HB 568 (2005).

SAFE PLACE FOR NEWBORNS - 210.950 - Extends the affirmative defense to prosecution for voluntary relinquishment of a child no more than one year old. Currently, the child must be between six and thirty days old.

ALTERNATIVE SENTENCING - 217.860 - Establishes the Task Force on Alternative Sentencing within the Department of Corrections and provides that the primary duty of the task force is to develop a statewide plan for alternative sentencing programs for nonviolent offenders. This provision is similar to HB 813 (2005).

TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT - 238.216 - Requires a verified petition to be submitted in order to form a transportation district. This provision is similar to SB 421 (2005).

CHILD SUPPORT - 452.340 - Authorizes a court to enter a judgment abating child support for a period of up to five months for any semester in which a child completes at least six but less than 12 credit hours when a child has pursued a path of continuous attendance at an institution of higher learning and has demonstrated evidence of a plan to continue the attendance. This provision is similar to HB 694 (2005). Further, the act changes the review of the child support guidelines from every three years to every four years. This provision is similar to HB 719.

ORDERS OF PROTECTION - 455.516 and 455.524 - The act provides that child orders of protection may be issued for at least 180 days and up to one year. Further, the court shall retain jurisdiction over a full order of protection for a child for the duration of the order and allows the court to schedule compliance review hearings to monitor compliance with the order.

NONPROBATE TRANSFERS - 461.005 - This act states that the term "owner" when used to define a person having a right to create a beneficiary deed shall include any such person, regardless of the terminology used to refer to the owner in the deed. This act will apply to all beneficiary deeds, including those executed prior to August 28, 2005. This provision is similar to SCS/SB 407 (2005).

STANDBY GUARDIANS - 475.010, 475.045 and 475.046 - Authorizes a court to appoint a standby guardian to temporarily assume the duties of guardian of a minor child, which becomes effective on the disability, incapacitation, or death of the appointing parent or guardian. This provision is similar to HB 794 and HB 826 (2005).

PROBATE JUDGES - 472.060 and 478.255 - Applies current replacement procedures to disqualified probate judges. This provision is similar to HB 764 (2005).

JUDICIAL CIRCUITS - 478.550, 478.570 and 478.600 - The act increases the number of circuit judges in the 11th and 23rd judicial circuits from 4 to 6 beginning January 1, 2007. The family court and drug court commissioner positions in those circuits shall become associate circuit judge positions beginning on January 1, 2007. Further, there will be one additional associate circuit judge in Cass County beginning January 1, 2007. This provision is similar to SS/SCS/SB 144 and SB 191 (2005).

PASSPORT FEES - 483.537 - The act requires clerks who process passport applications and collect a fee for the processing to account for the expenditure of the fee in an annual report to the presiding judge and the Office of State Courts Administrator. The fees may only be used for the maintenance of the courthouse or to fund operations of the circuit court.

NOTARY PUBLIC - 486.200 - Adds attorneys licensed to practice law in this state to the definition of "notary public".

COURT COSTS - Various sections in chapter 488 - No court in this state that is authorized to collect court costs is required to refund any overpayment of less than $5 or collect any due court costs of less than $5. The circuit court may retain any overpayment for operation of the circuit court. The act removes an effective date for a municipality or county to enact an ordinance to impose a domestic violence shelter surcharge on marriage licenses and civil cases filed in circuit court. Currently, such ordinance had to be in effect prior to January 1, 2001. For any county or city with a domestic violence shelter or whose residents are in a shelter located in another county, the domestic violence shelter surcharge may be assessed in any criminal case, including violations of any county or municipal ordinance. The act authorizes a circuit court to contract with a private entity operated under a contract with a state agency or the office of state courts administrator. These provisions are similar to HCS/SB 404 (2005). Further, a one dollar surcharge shall be assessed in all criminal cases, which shall be paid to the legal defense and defender fund.

JURY DUTY - 494.430 and 494.432 - Health care providers and employees of religious institutions may be excused from jury duty upon timely application to the court. Courts must specify the date a prospective juror will appear for jury service before granting a postponement. These provisions are identical to HCS/SB 405.

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS - 516.030 - An action for prevailing wages by a workman must be brought within three years.

UNLAWFUL DETAINER ACTIONS - 534.090 - The service of summons in an unlawful detainer action will be delivered by ordinary, rather than certified, mail. If the officer assigned to execute the summons returns to the court with information that the defendant cannot be found and with proof by affidavit that the summons was mailed, the judge will proceed to hear the matter as if personal service had been made.

ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE - 536.100 and 536.142 - Allows a person who is aggrieved by a final decision in a contested case regarding the employment of any employee of the state or its political subdivisions to petition the court for a trial de novo as an alternative to seeking judicial review of the decision. This provision is similar to HB 615 (2005).

REMOVAL OF DEFENDANTS - 545.550 - Sheriffs are authorized agree as to which county will house a defendant after a change of venue. This provision is identical to one in SB 448 and HCS/HB 353 (2005).

BIFURCATED JURY TRIALS - 557.036 - The act eliminates the bifurcated jury trial proceeding in criminal cases. This provision is similar to HB 358 (2005).

PEACE OFFICERS - 590.080, 590.120 and 590.180 - A peace officer may be disciplined for engaging in gross misconduct while not on active duty that involves moral turpitude or a reckless disregard for the safety of the public or any person. The act adds two rank-and-file peace officers to the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission. No two members of the Commission shall be from the same law enforcement agency. The Commission may inform prospective employers of an applicant's prior employment with law enforcement agencies. This provision is similar to HB 888 (2005).

PUBLIC DEFENDER - 600.042 and 600.086 - Adds to the list of persons that the State Public Defender is required to provide representation, including persons seeking post conviction relief and certain indigent persons seeking a hearing based on DNA evidence or a hearing seeking release from confinement based on mental illness. Further, up to ten days prior to trial, the public defender may withdraw representation if the defendant becomes financially able or the means to acquire counsel. This provision is similar to HB 796 (2005).

DNA PROFILING ANALYSIS - 650.055 - individuals who are determined to be actually innocent because of DNA testing after August 28, 2000, have five years from the date of release to file a petition for restitution. Currently, the individuals are required to file a petition for restitution within one year of release.

PERSONAL INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET - Section 1 - The act prohibits a court or a state or local agency from releasing personal information of certain elected and appointed officials on the Internet. It shall be a class C misdemeanor if any person knowingly posts personal information on such officials on the internet.

PRACTICE OF LAW - Section 2 - Banks or lending institutions that make residential loans and impose a fee of less than $200 for processing the application shall not be considered as engaged in the practice of law.

COMMISSIONER TRAINING - Section 3 - The office of state courts administrator shall establish a training program for court commissioners to train them as different types of court commissioners. Upon completion of the training, the presiding judge may temporarily assign such commissioner to serve as a commissioner in a different classification.

29th JUDICIAL CIRCUIT - Section 4 - The act creates a state-funded family court commissioner position in the 29th judicial circuit.

42nd JUDICIAL CIRCUIT - Section 5 - The act creates a state-funded drug court commissioner position in the 42nd judicial circuit.

23rd JUDICIAL CIRCUIT - Section 6 - Any drug court commissioner appointed in the 23rd judicial circuit will be a state-funded position.

ST. LOUIS CITY CIRCUIT CLERK - 483.260 - The act repeals current law that requires the state to annually pay $25,000 for an attorney for the St. Louis City Circuit Clerk.

JIM ERTLE