HS/HCS/SCS/SB 542 - This act changes the compensation of public administrators. Public Administrators in second, third and fourth classification counties and the City of St. Louis would be required to choose whether compensation would remain based on fees or be a salary which would be determined by the number of cases handled by the office. In the event the Public Administrator for St. Louis elects to be a salaried employee, the salary would be $65,000.

The compensation paid to a salaried Public Administrator would be determined by the average number of cases handled over a 2 year period up to 39 cases. A Public Administrator with 40 or more cases would be considered a full time employee of the county and would be paid a salary based on the assessed valuation of the county. Fees collected by a salaried Public Administrator would be deposited in the County Treasury. In St. Louis City such fees would be deposited in the City Treasury.

In Buchanan, Camden, Cape Girardeau, Cass, Cole, Franklin, Jasper, and Platt Counties, public administrators who elect to receive a fees rather than a salary would be eligible to join the Missouri local government employees' retirement system.

Effective January 1, 2001, all salaried public administrators will be considered "county officials". Any full-time staff in the Office of the Public Administrator would be considered county employees after January 1, 2001. The County would be required to provide full time staff to a Public Administrator with 50 or more cases.
DAVID TALLMAN