Missouri § 50.815 - Financial statement of county, when published, contents — certificate, penalty (certain counties).

§ 50.815. Financial statement of county, when published, contents — certificate, penalty (certain counties).

1.  On or before June thirtieth of each year, the county commission of each county of the first, second, third, or fourth classification shall, with the assistance of the county clerk or other officer responsible for the preparation of the financial statement, prepare and publish in some newspaper of general circulation published in the county, as provided under section 493.050, a financial statement of the county for the year ending the preceding December thirty-first.

2.  The financial statement shall show at least the following:

(1)  A summary of the receipts of each fund of the county for the year;

(2)  A summary of the disbursements and transfers of each fund of the county for the year;

(3)  A statement of the cash balance at the beginning and at the end of the year for each fund of the county;

(4)  A summary of delinquent taxes and other due bills for each fund of the county;

(5)  A summary of warrants of each fund of the county outstanding at the end of the year;

(6)  A statement of bonded indebtedness, if any, at the beginning and at the end of the year for each fund of the county;

(7)  A statement of the tax levies of each fund of the county for the year; and

(8)  The name, office, and current gross annual salary of each elected or appointed county official.

3.  The financial statement need not show specific disbursements, warrants issued, or the names of specific payees except to comply with subdivision (8) of subsection 2 of this section, but every individual warrant, voucher, receipt, court order and all other items, records, documents and other information which are not specifically required to be retained by the officer having initial charge thereof shall be filed on or before the date of publication of the financial statement prescribed by subsection 1 of this section in the office of the county clerk.  The county clerk or other officer responsible for the preparation of the financial statement shall preserve the same, shall provide an electronic copy of the data used to create the financial statement without charge to any newspaper requesting a copy of such data, and shall cause the same to be available for inspection during normal business hours on the request of any person, for a period of five years following the date of filing in his or her office, after which five-year period these records may be disposed of according to law unless they are the subject of a legal suit pending at the expiration of that period.

4.  At the end of the financial statement, each commissioner of the county commission and the county clerk shall sign and append the following certificate:

5.  Any person falsely certifying to any fact covered by the certificate is liable on his or her bond and is guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars or more than one thousand dollars, or by confinement in the county jail for a period of not less than thirty days nor more than six months, or by both such fine and confinement.  Any person charged with preparing the financial report who willfully or knowingly makes a false report of any record is, in addition to the penalties otherwise provided for in this section, guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be sentenced to imprisonment by the division of corrections for a term of not less than two years nor more than five years.

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(L. 1973 H.B. 669, A.L. 2022 H.B. 1606, A.L. 2025 H.B. 199 merged with S.B. 2)

---- end of effective  28 Aug 2025 ----

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