Missouri Laws 72.400 – Definitions
As used in sections 72.400 to 72.423, the following terms mean:
(1) “Boundary adjustment”, an adjustment of a boundary between two municipalities or a municipality and the unincorporated area of the county involving all or part of one or more residential parcels in common ownership or an adjustment between two municipalities or a municipality and the unincorporated area of the county involving only public property or public rights-of-way;
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 72.400
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of the statutes, mean the section next preceding or next following that in which the reference is made, unless some other section is expressly designated in the reference. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Property: includes real and personal property. See Missouri Laws 1.020
(2) “Boundary change”, any annexation, consolidation, incorporation, transfer of jurisdiction between municipalities or between a municipality and the county, or combination thereof, which, if approved, would result in a municipality composed of contiguous territory;
(3) “Commission”, a boundary commission established pursuant to this section;
(4) “Contiguousness”, territory proposed for annexation in which at least fifteen percent of its boundary is adjacent to the municipality which is proposing the annexation or territory proposed for addition to an established unincorporated area in which at least fifteen percent of its boundary is adjacent to the established unincorporated area;
(5) “Established unincorporated area”, an area in the unincorporated area of the county which has been approved by the voters pursuant to section 72.422 to remain unincorporated and not subject to any boundary change except as otherwise provided;
(6) “Proposing agent”, the governing body of any municipality which by ordinance has adopted a boundary change proposal or the governing body of the county which by ordinance has adopted a boundary change proposal, or the chief elected official of the county who has authorized the filing of an unincorporated area proposal, or a person presenting petitions for incorporation signed by a number of registered voters equal to not less than fifteen percent of the number of votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial election in the total combined area affected by the boundary change proposal. Petitions submitted by proposing agents may be submitted with exclusions for the signatures collected in areas originally included in the proposal but subsequently annexed or incorporated separately as a municipality, although the commission shall be satisfied as to the sufficiency of the signatures for the final proposed area;
(7) “Voting jurisdiction”, a city, town or village, or areas of unincorporated territory with boundaries established by the commission for purposes of holding a boundary change election.