FIRST REGULAR SESSION

[I N T R O D U C E D]

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 17

89th GENERAL ASSEMBLY


L1440.01

JOINT RESOLUTION

Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri, an amendment repealing section 7 of article IX of the Constitution of Missouri, relating to education and adopting one new section in lieu thereof relating to the same subject.


BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCONCURRING THEREIN:

     That at the next general election to be held in the state of Missouri, on Tuesday next following the first Monday in November, 1998, or at a special election to be called by the governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to the qualified voters of this state, for adoption or rejection, the following amendment to article IX of the Constitution of the state of Missouri:

     Section A. Section 7, article IX, Constitution of Missouri, is repealed and one new section adopted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 7, to read as follows:

     Section 7. 1. All real estate, loans, and investments now belonging to the various county and township school funds, except those invested as hereinafter provided, shall be liquidated without extension of time, and the proceeds thereof and the money on hand now belonging to [said] the school funds of the several counties and the city of St. Louis, shall be reinvested in registered bonds of the United States, or in bonds of the state or in approved bonds of any city or school district thereof, or in bonds or other securities the payment of which [are] is fully guaranteed by the United States, and sacredly preserved as a county school fund. Any county or the city of St. Louis by a majority vote of the qualified electors voting thereon may elect to distribute annually to its schools the proceeds of the liquidated school fund, at the time and in the manner prescribed by law. All interest accruing from investment of the county school fund, the clear proceeds of all penalties, forfeitures and fines collected hereafter for any breach of the penal laws of the state except as otherwise provided in subsection 2 of this section, the net proceeds from the sale of estrays, and all other moneys coming into [said] the funds shall be distributed annually to the schools of the several counties according to law.

     2. The net proceeds of all forfeitures collected for any breach of a penal law shall be remitted to the state treasurer for deposit in a forfeiture fund established in the state treasury. Fifty percent of these proceeds shall be transferred to the state school moneys fund or its successor fund as provided by law. The remaining fifty percent shall be deposited in a department of public safety forfeiture fund. The funds in the department of public safety forfeiture fund shall be divided with ninety percent of such funds being distributed to the law enforcement agency to which the forfeiture was attributed and ten percent shall be retained by the department of public safety to be used as provided by law.

     3. The general assembly shall have the power to enforce this section by appropriate legislation.