Missouri school bond measures land in limbo over public notices
7 min read
School districts across Missouri are facing doubts about their ability to certify voter-approved bond measures in light of a statute requiring public notice precisely two weeks and one week prior to the election.
The statute is not new, but once the state auditor became aware that some districts were missing the exact notification targets laid out in the law, he said he could not certify those results.
“We have been informed of election notice issues in several counties, but no, we can’t name all of the clients affected because the state auditor’s office isn’t typically notified about bond issues until we receive them for registration,” State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick said by email.
“It seems to be fairly widespread,” said Fitzpatrick, a Republican who was elected state auditor in 2022. “Our office has been notified of several notice issues in counties throughout the state. These issues differ from county to county, but the common thread is that the state notice laws were not complied with.”
With the proceeds of a $6.5 million bond measure voters approved in April, Missouri’s Hallsville School District had planned to bolster security at the main entrances of its schools, build baseball and multipurpose fields and add classrooms to its primary school, as well as pay off a lease purchase agreement, according to the
But the district — about 14 miles northeast of Columbia in Boone County — has become a prominent example of the tightening interpretation of the statute governing public notice. It published its notices to voters one week too early.
“It’s unfortunate that we’re going to have to be the guinea pig in this situation,” Superintendent Tyler Walker told The Bond Buyer. “It’s kind of an antiquated law that shouldn’t still be in place in today’s world.”
Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon told The Bond Buyer that “this is a relatively new thing.
“It’s happening all over the state,” she said of the refusal to certify bond measures. And it’s happening almost entirely to school districts: “There are a couple
Lennon said her office’s duties include putting the bond measure on the election ballot, publishing notices in the local newspaper, making sure that polling places are open and certifying election results after votes have been counted.
“Up to this point, that’s the most I’ve ever known about how the bond process works,” she said. “This is the first time that I know of that this has ever happened.”
Two factors were at play in Hallsville’s miscue. One was legal: the dawning realization last month by the district and its bond counsel, Gilmore & Bell, that Hallsville was one of up to 10 of the law firm’s clients whose bond measures couldn’t be submitted to the auditor for certification, the
Mark Grimm, chairman and shareholder in the St. Louis office of Gilmore & Bell, said by email, “Gilmore & Bell cannot comment on the specifics of any situation relating to the representation of our clients.”
He stressed that the firm has “the utmost respect” for the auditor and his staff.
“While we understand the state auditor’s stance, we believe that, under Missouri law, voter-approved bond issues can still be valid despite minor deficiencies relating to publication of election notices that would not in any way affect the outcome of the election,” he said.
State statutes lay out a specific procedure to challenge the validity of elections within 30 days after results are announced, he said.
“For decades, Gilmore & Bell and other bond counsel firms have relied on those statutes, and court decisions interpreting those statutes, to render approving opinions on the validity of bond issues, some of which have had minor publication deficiencies,” Grimm said.
After the auditor refused to certify another school district represented by a different firm in May, Gilmore & Bell sent a set of hypotheticals to the auditor trying to gauge what circumstances might disqualify a bond measure, he said. That included the circumstances facing Hallsville — which the auditor said would indeed be disqualifying.
The firm disagrees with, but respects, the auditor’s conclusion, Grimm said.
Another of Gilmore & Bell’s clients, the Higbee Fire Protection District, had failed certification in February after the auditor’s office established that a sample ballot had never been published in the local newspaper, the Independent reported.
Lennon said a new challenge for her office is working with the local paper.
Lennon did not name the newspaper her office had trouble with. But she said, “It’s just been extremely difficult to get proofing done for publishing anything in the paper.”
She added, “They have nationalized the people working on the publication. Before, we could talk to people in the local office. Now, there’s a portal where you upload things, and then they send it back, and it’s not correct.”
Around the country, thousands of local
“Some of these bonds, the district and the county clerk did everything right, but the paper didn’t run it,” she said. “I was trying to ensure that if the newspaper did make a mistake, then there would be a grace period.”
But things could be worse. “In some of these situations, there is no newspaper that covers that county,” Lennon noted.
Of the communication between bond counsel and the county clerk on the timing of their notice, Hallsville’s Walker said, “I don’t know the exact conversation of how that happened. I think information got sent to the county clerk by Gilmore & Bell, and it was assumed that they were going to follow the statute. Because this had never been an issue before, I don’t think that this was much of a conversation at all.”
He said it will cost the district about $15,000 to re-run the question on the ballot in November.
The district’s April bond measure won with almost 75% support.
But when asked if he was concerned about voter confusion or even a different outcome in November, “I think I am a little bit,” Walker said.
“In the November election, we have to have two-thirds (approval),” he said. “So the percentage that we have to have increases. We’re trying to get the word out that this isn’t our fault at all… We’re a small community, and we hope that the word gets out.”
The school district has seen 1% to 2% annual growth on average over the past ten years, he said, and the community understands that because the district is growing, its capital project needs are, too.
The ballot measure in November will be for the same amount, which means that the district will have to absorb any cost hikes due to the delay.
“The construction costs, they’re going to increase, there’s no doubt about it,” Walker said. “Our dollars are going to have to be stretched further.”
Little else will change, though — including their bond counsel.
“Gilmore & Bell has done a great job supporting us, so we’re going to continue to lean on them,” Walker said.
He added that while he hasn’t talked directly to state legislators himself, there is interest in Jefferson City in changing the law to allow for more flexibility. Gilmore & Bell has been talking to some lawmakers, he said.
Grimm said the firm “will continue working with the many small cities, school districts and other affected communities around the state, along with the state auditor’s office, on legislation to update the archaic election notice statutes so that, in the future, the will of the voters is not defeated by minor publication errors.”
Lennon said, “I think that there are some improvements that could be made. Especially… knowing that local newspapers are not able to do what they used to do.”
In Boone County, she said, they took the additional step of sending a sample ballot to all residents. “The whole point of that statute is to provide notice to people,” she added. “We did that — it would be nice if the law took that into consideration.”
Fitzpatrick’s office has heard from “a number of state lawmakers” about this, he said, and his office will work with them ahead of the 2026 session.
Fitzpatrick said he is aware that some county clerks have taken extra steps, such as notifying constituents by direct mail, but while that approach may be more effective, it does not satisfy the current law.
“Laws need to be updated when circumstances change,” he said. “In this case, the reality is there are fewer newspapers in circulation than there used to be, and fewer Missourians get their news from newspapers than they did 50 years ago.”
