AMENDMENT 1 IS CLEAN-UP MEASURE FOR SPECIAL LAWS

If not for special laws passed by the Missouri General Assembly, Cape Girardeau County would still have a part-time prosecuting attorney, would not have a coroner and could not collect taxes for drainage and levee districts.

Last year, Missouri's special laws were ruled unconstitutional in a St. Louis County court case. State law says a law enacted for a single county must apply to all counties in the same classification.

Amendment One, the only statewide measure on Tuesday's ballot, will allow laws to pass for single counties and keep special laws intact by applying the measure retroactively.

The amendment's chief sponsor, state Sen. Wayne Goode, D-Normandy, said the measure "would simply put the law back where it was."

He said special legislation was a tool used by the legislature to help counties deal with specific problems.

"We were not trying to grab any undue authority," he said.

The amendment will expand the number of county classes from four to five. The new class will allow a charter or constitutional form of government.

Passage requires a simple majority.

Juanita Donahue, executive director of the Missouri Association of Counties, said "a myriad of laws could be in jeopardy if Amendment One doesn't pass."

"Tourism taxes, enterprise zones in counties that don't meet the requirements for tax abatements, special laws for certain counties," Donahue said. "All those things could be hurt."

Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said he isn't worried about the amendment.

"It won't have a profound effect on Cape County," he said. "It's just cleaning up, not a big problem. Everything will stay in effect. It's not a controversial issue."