reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 391 - Street Railroads › Section 391.010 - Requirements for incorporating street railway companies.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 391
Effective - 28 Aug 1947
391.010. Requirements for incorporating street railway companies. —
1. Any number of persons, not less than five, may form a company for the purpose of constructing, maintaining and operating a street railroad for public use in the conveyance of persons, mail and express parcels; and for that purpose may make and sign articles of association in which shall be stated the name of the company, the number of years the same is to continue, the city and county in which the road is to be constructed or maintained and operated, the amount of the capital stock, common and preferred, of the company, and the number of shares of which said capital stock shall consist, and the names and places of residence of the directors, not less than five nor more than thirteen in number, who shall manage its affairs for the first year and until others are chosen in their places. Each subscriber to such articles of association shall subscribe thereto his name, place of residence and the number of shares of stock he agrees to take in said company.
2. When one-half of the capital stock shall have been subscribed and ten percent paid thereon in good faith to the directors named in said articles of association, and an affidavit annexed thereto, made by at least three of the directors named therein, that one-half of the stock of the said proposed corporation has been in good faith subscribed, and ten percent of the amount so subscribed has been paid, and that it is intended in good faith to construct or maintain and operate the road mentioned in such articles of association, the said original articles of association shall be recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds of the county or city in which the corporation is to be located and then be filed in the office of the secretary of state, and thereupon the said association shall by the name mentioned in the said articles of association become a body politic and corporate with the powers, rights and franchises, herein specified; provided, the said articles of association shall not be filed and recorded until such association or corporation shall pay to the state director of revenue fifty dollars for the first fifty thousand dollars or less of the capital stock of the corporation, and a further sum of five dollars for every additional ten thousand dollars of the capital stock.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5315, A.L. 1947 V. I p. 234)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4910; 1919 § 10121; 1909 § 3315
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 391 - Street Railroads › Section 391.060 - Operating arrangements with interurban railroad.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 391
Effective - 28 Aug 1939
391.060. Operating arrangements with interurban railroad. —
Any corporation now or which may hereafter be incorporated under any general or special law of this state and operating a street railroad shall have the right to effect operating arrangement with any interurban railroad connecting therewith, which shall include the right to purchase bonds and to guarantee the bonds of any such interurban railroad company.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5320)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4915; 1919 § 10126; 1909 § 3320
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 391 - Street Railroads › Section 391.130 - May construct and operate street railways over bridges connecting any city in this state with any city of an adjoining state.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 391
Effective - 28 Aug 1939
391.130. May construct and operate street railways over bridges connecting any city in this state with any city of an adjoining state. —
Any company owning, leasing, operating or controlling a bridge connecting any city, town or village in this state, with any city, town or village of any adjoining state, may lease, own, construct and operate a street railway over such bridge and in such cities, towns or villages and counties in which same may be situated, and in adjoining counties, and may also acquire and hold stock and guarantee bonds of any company operating such street railway or railways.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5305)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4899; 1919 § 10110; 1909 § 3304
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 391 - Street Railroads › Section 391.230 - Street railroads operating cars by electricity or overhead wires.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 391
Effective - 28 Aug 1939
391.230. Street railroads operating cars by electricity or overhead wires. —
All street railway companies or corporations operating cars by electricity, or by overhead wires, shall construct and maintain its wires at a height of not less than twenty-two feet above the top of the rail of the railroad track crossed by such street railway company, and the wires of such street railway company shall be guarded, or provided with fenders or guard wires, so as to prevent the same from coming in contact with the cars, track or telegraph line along the track of such railroad company.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5301)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4895; 1919 § 10106; 1909 § 3302
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 391 - Street Railroads › Section 391.240 - Duty of street railway companies where tracks cross railroad tracks.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 391
Effective - 28 Aug 1939
391.240. Duty of street railway companies where tracks cross railroad tracks. —
It shall be the duty of every street railway company or corporation operating a street railway across the tracks of a railroad company to bring its cars to a full stop at least ten and not more than twenty feet before reaching the tracks of the railroad company. And it shall be the duty of the conductor, or some other employee of the street railway company, to go forward to the tracks of such railroad company for the purpose of ascertaining whether a train is approaching such crossing.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5302)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4896; 1919 § 10107; 1909 § 3303
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.010 - Telephone and telegraph corporations, by whom and how formed.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1975
392.010. Telephone and telegraph corporations, by whom and how formed. —
Any number of persons, not less than five, being subscribers to the stock of any contemplated telephone or magnetic telegraph company, may be formed into a corporation for the purpose of constructing, owning, operating and maintaining lines of telephone or magnetic telegraph, upon complying with the following requirements: Whenever stock to the amount of not less than twenty thousand dollars shall have been subscribed for the purpose of forming a telegraph company, or five hundred dollars for the purpose of forming a telephone company, the subscribers to such stock shall elect such number of directors, not less than three nor more than twenty-one, as they may determine, and shall severally subscribe articles of association, which shall set forth the name of the corporation, the amount of the capital stock of the company, the number of directors, the amount of each share of stock, the number and names of the subscribers to the stock of the company, and the number of shares of stock taken by each subscriber, the location of the principal office or place of business of the company, and the names of its authorized agents thereat, which shall be verified by the affidavit of at least three of the subscribers thereto, and shall pay into the state treasury fifty dollars for the first fifty thousand dollars or less of its capital stock, and the further sum of five dollars for every additional ten thousand dollars thereof.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5321, A.L. 1975 S.B. 89)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4916; 1919 § 10127; 1909 § 3321
CROSS REFERENCE:
Organization under general corporation law, 351.030
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.020 - Articles, where filed — powers when incorporated.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 2020, 2 histories
392.020. Articles, where filed — powers when incorporated. —
1. The original articles of association shall be recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds of the county in which the corporation is to be located, and then be filed in the office of the secretary of state, who shall carefully preserve the same in his office, and thereupon the subscribers and the persons who, from time to time, shall become stockholders in such company, and their successors, shall be a body politic and corporate, by the name stated in such articles of association, and shall have power to construct, own, operate and maintain lines of telephone and magnetic telegraph between such points as they may from time to time determine, and to make such reasonable charges for the use of the same as they may establish; and shall have power to lease or attach to their lines other telephone or telegraph lines by lease or purchase; and meetings of the stockholders or of the directors of such corporation may be held for the transaction of business as well without as within this state.
2. A copy of the articles of association, certified by the secretary of state or his deputy, under the seal of the state, shall be prima facie evidence of the incorporation of such company, and of the facts stated therein. Any such company, through its board of directors, with the consent of the persons holding the larger amount in value of the stock, shall have power to reduce its capital stock to any amount not below the actual cost of construction, and in like manner and with like consent to increase the capital stock from time to time as in their judgment may be necessary, not exceeding an amount which, when fully paid up, shall be required for the business of the company, which consent shall be obtained in the manner prescribed by law.
3. Any corporation formed for the purpose of section 392.010, or operating under the provisions of subsection 1 of section 351.030, may amend the articles of association to include a statement referencing the corporation's operating designation as described in 26 U.S.C. Section 501(c)(12), as amended.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5322, A.L. 2020 H.B. 1768)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4917; 1919 § 10128; 1909 § 5322
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.030 - Powers of corporation.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1939
392.030. Powers of corporation. —
All corporations formed under sections 392.010 to 392.170 shall possess all the powers and privileges granted to corporations by chapter 351, relating to the general powers of private corporations, and be subject to all the provisions thereof except as herein otherwise provided.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5337)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4932; 1919 § 10143; 1909 § 3338
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.040 - Election of directors — appointment of officers.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1939
392.040. Election of directors — appointment of officers. —
1. There shall be an annual election of directors to serve for the ensuing year, notice of which, appointing a time and place, shall be given by the directors chosen, as provided by law, for the first annual election, and thereafter by their successors in office; which notice shall be published not less than twenty days previous thereto in a newspaper published in the county where the principal office of the company shall be situated. The directors shall hold their offices for one year and until their successors are duly elected and qualified.
2. They shall elect one of their number to be president of the company, and may appoint such other officers and agents as may be prescribed by the articles of association or bylaws of the company.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5323)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4918; 1919 § 10129; 1909 § 3323)
CROSS REFERENCE:
Quorum of stockholders, powers, 351.267
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.050 - Directors, procedure for election of.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1975
392.050. Directors, procedure for election of. —
All elections for directors shall conform to the requirements of law governing private business corporations.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5324, A.L. 1975 S.B. 89)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4919; 1919 § 10130; 1909 § 3324
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.060 - Meeting of board.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1939
392.060. Meeting of board. —
The board of directors may at any time meet for the transaction of business, upon a call of the president of the company.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5325)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4920; 1919 § 10131; 1909 § 3325
CROSS REFERENCE:
Quorum in membership telephone corporations, 351.267
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.070 - Consolidation of companies.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1939
392.070. Consolidation of companies. —
Any telegraph company now organized, or which may hereafter be organized, under the laws of this state, may at any regular meeting of the stockholders thereof, by vote of persons holding a majority of the shares of the stock of such company, unite or consolidate with any other company or companies now organized, or which may hereafter be organized, under the laws of the United States, or of any state or territory, by consent of the company with which it may consolidate or unite, and such consolidated company so formed may hold, use and enjoy all the rights and privileges conferred by the laws of Missouri on companies separately organized under the provisions of sections 392.010 to 392.170, and be subject to the same liabilities.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5336)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4931; 1919 § 10142; 1909 § 3337
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.080 - May construct lines on public roads — consent of city required — constructive easement acquired, when.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1974
392.080. May construct lines on public roads — consent of city required — constructive easement acquired, when. —
Companies organized under the provisions of sections 392.010 to 392.170, for the purpose of constructing and maintaining telephone or magnetic telegraph lines are authorized to set their poles, piers, abutments, wires, and other fixtures along, across or under any of the public roads, streets and waters of this state, in such manner as not to incommode the public in the use of such roads, streets and waters; provided, any telegraph or telephone company desiring to place their wires, poles, and other fixtures in any city, they shall first obtain consent from said city through the municipal authorities thereof; and provided, further, that the acceptance, use, or continued use of this right shall create a real property public easement in the public roads, streets and waters in favor of the accepting telephone or magnetic telegraph company so long as it is used for public utility purposes, subject only to public use and the rights of the cities as set out above and such easement shall not terminate or be extinguished by any vacation, abandonment or subsequent sale by the state or any agency or commission thereof; however, nothing contained herein shall alter the authority of the state highways and transportation commission to require the alteration or removal of such facilities pursuant to section 227.240, nor entitle the owner of the facilities to reimbursement for the cost of altering or removing such facilities pursuant to an order of state highways and transportation commission under section 227.240.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5326, A.L. 1974 S.B. 344)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4921; 1919 § 10132; 1909 § 3326
CROSS REFERENCES:
Erection of telephone or telegraph wires in streets or roads, cities of the third class, 77.520
Erection of telephone or telegraph wires in streets or roads, cities of the fourth class, 88.773
Erection of telephone or telegraph wires in streets or roads, consent of county commission, 229.100
Erection of telephone or telegraph wires in streets or roads, state highways and transportation commission consent, 227.240
(1981) Statutory amendment giving telephone utility, but not other utilities, a vested property interest in public land under which its cables and conduits had been placed had a retroactive effect in violation of the ex post facto provision of the Missouri Constitution and the constitutional ban on local or special laws. Planned Industrial Expansion Authority of the City of St. Louis v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. (Mo.), 612 S.W.2d 772.
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.090 - Mode of construction may be directed, by whom.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1939
392.090. Mode of construction may be directed, by whom. —
The mayor and aldermen or board of common council of any city, and the trustees of any incorporated town, through which the lines of any telephone or telegraph company are to pass, may, by ordinance or otherwise, specify where the posts, piers or abutments shall be located, the kind of posts that shall be used, the height at which the wires shall be run; and such company shall be governed by the regulations thus prescribed; and after the erection of said telephone or telegraph lines, the said mayor and aldermen, or board of common council, and the trustees of any incorporated town, shall have power to direct any alteration in the location or erection of said posts, piers or abutments, and also in the height at which the wires shall run, having first given such company or its agents opportunity to be heard in regard to such alteration.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5335)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4930; 1919 § 10141; 1909 § 3335
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.100 - May enter upon lands, when.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1939
392.100. May enter upon lands, when. —
Such companies are also authorized to enter upon any land, whether owned by private persons in fee or in any less estate, or by any corporation, whether acquired by purchase or by virtue of any provision in the charter of such corporation for the purpose of making preliminary surveys and examinations with a view to the erection of any telephone or telegraph lines, and, from time to time, to appropriate so much of said lands as may be necessary to erect such poles, piers, abutments, wires and other necessary fixtures for a telephone or magnetic telegraph, and to make such changes of location of any part of said lines as may, from time to time, be deemed necessary, and shall have a right of access to construct said line, and when erected, from time to time, as may be required, to repair the same; and may proceed to obtain the right-of-way, and to condemn said lands in the manner provided by law.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5327)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4922; 1919 § 10133; 1909 § 3327
CROSS REFERENCE:
Condemnation proceedings, Chap. 523
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.110 - No contract for exclusive use of land.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1939
392.110. No contract for exclusive use of land. —
No company shall have power to contract with any owner of land for the right to erect or maintain a telephone or telegraph line over his lands, to the exclusion of the lines of other companies organized under the provisions of sections 392.010 to 392.170.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5328)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4923; 1919 § 10134; 1909 § 3328
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.120 - Companies to provide facilities to meet public needs — penalty for failure to deliver messages.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
Effective - 28 Aug 1939
392.120. Companies to provide facilities to meet public needs — penalty for failure to deliver messages. —
It shall be the duty of every telegraph or telephone company, incorporated or unincorporated, operating any telephone or telegraph line in this state, to provide sufficient facilities at all its offices for the dispatch of the business of the public, to receive dispatches from and for other telephone or telegraph lines and from or for any individual, and on payment or tender of their usual charges for transmitting and delivering dispatches as established by the rules and regulations of such telephone or telegraph lines, to transmit and deliver the same to designated address and to use due diligence to place said dispatch in the hands of the addressee, by the most direct means available, without material alterations, promptly, and with impartiality and good faith under a penalty of three hundred dollars for every neglect or refusal so to transmit and deliver, to be recovered with costs of suit by civil action by the person or persons or company sending or desiring to send such dispatch; two-thirds of the amount recovered to be retained by the plaintiff and one-third to be paid into the county school fund of the county in which the suit was instituted, and the burden of proof shall be upon the company to show that the wire was engaged as the reason for the delay in transmitting such dispatch.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5330)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4925; 1919 § 10136; 1909 § 3330
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.130 - Companies to provide facilities to meet public needs — penalty for failure to deliver messages.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1939
392.130. Companies to provide facilities to meet public needs — penalty for failure to deliver messages. —
It shall be the duty of every telegraph or telephone company, incorporated or unincorporated, operating any telephone or telegraph line in this state, to provide sufficient facilities at all its offices for the dispatch of the business of the public, to receive dispatches from and for other telephone or telegraph lines and from or for any individual, and on payment or tender of their usual charges for transmitting and delivering dispatches as established by the rules and regulations of such telephone or telegraph lines, to transmit and deliver the same to designated address and to use due diligence to place said dispatch in the hands of the addressee, by the most direct means available, without material alterations, promptly, and with impartiality and good faith under a penalty of three hundred dollars for every neglect or refusal so to transmit and deliver, to be recovered with costs of suit by civil action by the person or persons or company sending or desiring to send such dispatch; two-thirds of the amount recovered to be retained by the plaintiff and one-third to be paid into the county school fund of the county in which the suit was instituted, and the burden of proof shall be upon the company to show that the wire was engaged as the reason for the delay in transmitting such dispatch.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5330)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4925; 1919 § 10136; 1909 § 3330
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.140 - Duties in forwarding dispatches over other lines.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1939
392.140. Duties in forwarding dispatches over other lines. —
Where the person sending the dispatch desires to have it forwarded over the lines of other telephone or telegraph companies, whose termini are respectively within the limits of the usual delivery of such companies, to the place of final destination, and shall tender to the first company the amount of the usual charges for the dispatch to the place of final delivery, it shall be the duty of the company to receive the same, and, without delaying the dispatch, to pay to the succeeding line the necessary charges for the remaining distance; and it shall be the duty of the succeeding line or lines to accept the same, and forward the dispatch in the same manner as if the person sending the same had applied to the agent or operator of such line or lines in person, and paid to him the usual charges; and for omitting so to do the company or companies owning or operating such line or lines shall severally be liable to the penalty prescribed in section 392.130.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5331)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4926; 1919 § 10137; 1909 § 3331
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.150 - Employees to notify sender when message cannot be transmitted immediately — penalty.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1939
392.150. Employees to notify sender when message cannot be transmitted immediately — penalty. —
In all cases where application is made to any telephone or telegraph company, or the operator, agent, clerk or servant thereof, to send a dispatch, it shall be the duty of such operator, agent, clerk or servant who may receive dispatches at that station, plainly to inform the applicant, and, if required by him, to write upon the dispatch that the line is not in working order, or that the dispatches already on hand for transmission will occupy the time so that the dispatch offered cannot be transmitted within the time required, or promptly, if the facts be so; and for omitting so to do, or for intentionally giving false information to the applicant in relation to the time within which the dispatch offered may be sent, such operator, agent, clerk or servant, and the company by which he is employed, shall incur a like penalty as in section 392.130.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5332)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4927; 1919 § 10138; 1909 § 3332
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.160 - Penalty for transmitting false communications.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1939
392.160. Penalty for transmitting false communications. —
If any officer, manager, agent or operator of any telephone or telegraph line operating in this state, or any other person, shall knowingly transmit by such telephone or telegraph line any false communication or intelligence with intent to injure anyone, or to speculate in any article of merchandise, commerce or trade, or with intent that another may do so, or shall knowingly send or deliver any dispatch that is forged or not authorized by the person whose name purports to be signed thereto, shall, on conviction thereof in the court having criminal jurisdiction in the proper county, be liable to the same penalty as is provided in section 392.130.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5333)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4928; 1919 § 10139; 1909 § 3333
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.170 - Liability for negligence in transmitting and delivering messages — not to disclose contents — penalty.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1939
392.170. Liability for negligence in transmitting and delivering messages — not to disclose contents — penalty. —
Every telephone or telegraph company now organized under the laws of this state, and every telephone or telegraph company now organized, or which may hereafter be organized under the laws of any other state or territory, and doing business in this state, shall be liable for special damages occasioned by the failure or negligence of their operators or servants in receiving, copying, transmitting or delivering dispatches; and for the disclosure of any of the contents of any private dispatches to any person other than to him to whom it was addressed, or to his agent, they shall be liable to the sender of the dispatch, and to the person to whom it was addressed, in the sum of fifty dollars to each, recoverable by any action before a magistrate, and for all special damages in addition thereto.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5334)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 4929; 1919 § 10140; 1909 § 3334
(1957) This section does not dispense with the element of proximate cause, but telephone company is liable for neglect or refusal to transmit notice of fire to fire department within reasonable time after it has notice thereof, and under pleadings question of proximate cause was jury question. Jennings v. Southwestern Bell Tel. Co. (Mo.), 307 S.W.2d 464.
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.175 - Operator services, live operator to be provided, when.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1997
392.175. Operator services, live operator to be provided, when. —
1. As used in this section, the meanings of words and phrases shall have the same meaning as given to such words and phrases in section 386.020.
2. A telecommunications company that provides operator services within this state shall enable a caller to access a live operator at the beginning of a call by a means that is easily and readily understood.
3. The requirements of this section shall not apply to telephones located in any correctional or detention facility.
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(L. 1997 S.B. 333 § 1)
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.180 - What definitions to apply.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1996
392.180. What definitions to apply. —
The provisions of section 386.020, defining words, phrases and terms, shall apply to and determine the meaning of all such words, phrases and terms as used in sections 392.190 to 392.530.
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(1949 H.B. 2104, A.L. 1996 S.B. 507)
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.185 - Purpose of chapter.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1996
392.185. Purpose of chapter. —
The provisions of this chapter shall be construed to:
(1) Promote universally available and widely affordable telecommunications services;
(2) Maintain and advance the efficiency and availability of telecommunications services;
(3) Promote diversity in the supply of telecommunications services and products throughout the state of Missouri;
(4) Ensure that customers pay only reasonable charges for telecommunications service;
(5) Permit flexible regulation of competitive telecommunications companies and competitive telecommunications services;
(6) Allow full and fair competition to function as a substitute for regulation when consistent with the protection of ratepayers and otherwise consistent with the public interest;
(7) Promote parity of urban and rural telecommunications services;
(8) Promote economic, educational, health care and cultural enhancements; and
(9) Protect consumer privacy.
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(L. 1996 S.B. 507)
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.190 - Application of sections 392.190 to 392.530.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1987
392.190. Application of sections 392.190 to 392.530. —
The provisions of sections 392.190 to 392.530 shall apply to telecommunications service between one point and another within the state of Missouri and to every telecommunications company.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5663, A.L. 1987 H.B. 360)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 5207; 1919 § 10495
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.201 - Electronic publishing limitations — adoption of provisions — public service commission to administer — exception.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1996
392.201. Electronic publishing limitations — adoption of provisions — public service commission to administer — exception. —
1. Prior to February 7, 2000, no incumbent local exchange telecommunications company may engage in the provision of electronic publishing services, on an intrastate basis, which services are disseminated by means of such telecommunications company's or any of its affiliates' telecommunications services; except that nothing in this section shall prohibit a separated affiliate or electronic publishing joint venture operated in accordance with this section from engaging in the provision of intrastate electronic publishing services.
2. The state of Missouri hereby adopts and incorporates in total the electronic publishing provisions of Section 274 of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 for the purpose of governing the provision of electronic publishing services on an intrastate basis; provided that said provisions shall be fully applicable to and binding on all incumbent local exchange telecommunications companies operating in the state of Missouri until February 7, 2000.
3. The public service commission is hereby granted all primary and concurrent jurisdiction and powers necessary and proper to administer the provisions of this section consistent with the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, as incorporated herein, and otherwise consistent with the public service commission law.
4. Other provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding, the provisions of this section shall not be construed to affect or prohibit incumbent local exchange telecommunications companies from providing international networking (internet) services, electronic bulletin board and related services which are offered primarily as a community or public service.
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(L. 1996 S.B. 507)
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.205 - Public schools to have reduced rates.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1996
392.205. Public schools to have reduced rates. —
The public service commission shall ensure that all public school districts have access to substantially reduced telecommunications rates and may approve the tariff as submitted, or may, after hearing, modify the tariff in the public interest.
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(L. 1996 S.B. 507)
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.246 - Petition for rate relief — relief to be granted, when.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1996
392.246. Petition for rate relief — relief to be granted, when. —
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 2 of section 392.245, an incumbent local exchange telecommunications company regulated under section 392.245 may petition the commission for rate relief under the provisions of sections 392.220 and 392.230, and the commission may grant such rate relief if it determines that the financial condition of such incumbent local exchange telecommunications company's Missouri jurisdictional operations is such that the company cannot attract capital on reasonable terms or that the ability of that incumbent local exchange telecommunications company to continue to provide safe and adequate universal telecommunications service is threatened. If the commission shall be of the opinion that the maximum rates, charges or rentals chargeable by such telecommunications company are insufficient to yield reasonable compensation for the service rendered, the commission shall with due regard, among other things, to a reasonable average return upon the value of the property actually used in the public service and of the necessity of making reservation out of income for surplus and contingencies, determine the just and reasonable rates, charges and rentals to be thereafter observed and in force as the maximum to be charged, demanded, exacted or collected for the performance or rendering of the service specified and shall fix the same by order served upon such incumbent local exchange telecommunications company, and thereafter no increase in any rate, charge or rental so fixed shall be made without the consent of the commission.
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(L. 1996 S.B. 507)
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.250 - Power of commission to order repairs or changes.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1987
392.250. Power of commission to order repairs or changes. —
Whenever the commission shall be of the opinion, after a hearing had upon its own motion or upon complaint, that repairs or improvements to or changes in any telecommunications facilities ought reasonably to be made, or that any additions should reasonably be made thereto, in order to promote the convenience of the public or employees, or in order to secure adequate service or facilities for telecommunications service, the commission shall make and serve an order directing that such repairs, improvements, changes or additions be made within a reasonable time and in a manner to be specified therein, and every telecommunications company is hereby required and directed to make all repairs, improvements, changes and additions required of it by any order of the commission served upon it.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5672, A.L. 1987 H.B. 360)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 5216; 1919 § 10504
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.290 - Right to issue stocks, bonds and notes is subject to regulation by state — exception — limitation on powers of commission.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1987
392.290. Right to issue stocks, bonds and notes is subject to regulation by state — exception — limitation on powers of commission. —
1. The power of telecommunications companies to issue stocks, bonds, notes and other evidence of indebtedness and to create liens upon their property situated in this state is a special privilege, the right of supervision, regulation, restriction and control of which is and shall continue to be vested in the state, and such power shall be exercised as provided by law and under such rules and regulations as the commission may prescribe.
2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, no telecommunications company operating in Missouri and one or more other states shall be required to obtain authorization from the commission to issue stocks, bonds, notes or any other evidence of indebtedness; nor shall any such telecommunications company be required to obtain authorization from the commission in order to encumber the whole or any part of its franchise line or system.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5674, A.L. 1986 S.B. 625, A.L. 1987 H.B. 360)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 5218; 1919 § 10506
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.320 - Certificate of commission to be recorded — stock dividends, permitted when.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1987
392.320. Certificate of commission to be recorded — stock dividends, permitted when. —
1. No telecommunications company governed by the provisions of this chapter shall issue any stocks, bonds, notes or other evidence of indebtedness, for money, property or services, either directly or indirectly, nor shall it receive any money, property or services in payment of the same, either directly or indirectly, until there shall have been recorded upon the books of such corporation or person the certificate of the commission herein provided for.
2. No telecommunications company governed by the provisions of this chapter shall declare any stock, bond or scrip dividend or divide the proceeds of the same of any stock, bond or scrip among its stockholders unless authorized by the commission so to do.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5677, A.L. 1987 H.B. 360)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 5221; 1919 § 10509
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.340 - Reorganization.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1987
392.340. Reorganization. —
1. Reorganization of telecommunications companies shall be subject to the supervision and control of the commission and no such reorganization shall be had without the authorization of such commission.
2. Upon all such reorganizations the amount of capitalization, including therein all stocks and bonds and other evidence of indebtedness, shall be such as is authorized by the commission, which, in making its determination, shall not exceed the fair value of the property involved, taking into consideration its original cost of construction, duplication cost, present condition, earning power at reasonable rates and all other relevant matters and any additional sum or sums as shall be actually paid in cash except, that the commission may make due allowance for discount of bonds. Any reorganization agreement before it becomes effective shall be amended so that the amount of capitalization shall conform to the amount authorized by the commission. The commission may by its order impose such condition or conditions as it may deem reasonable and necessary.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5681, A.L. 1987 H.B. 360)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 5225; 1919 § 10513
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.350 - Liability for loss or damage.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1987
392.350. Liability for loss or damage. —
In case any telecommunications company shall do or cause to be done or permit to be done any act, matter or thing prohibited, forbidden or declared to be unlawful, or shall omit to do any act, matter or other thing required to be done by this chapter or by any order or decision of the commission, such telecommunications company shall be liable to the person or corporation affected thereby for all loss, damage or injury caused thereby or resulting therefrom, and in case of recovery, if the court shall find that such an act or omission was willful, it may, in its discretion, fix a reasonable counsel or attorney's fee, which fee shall be taxed and collected as a part of the costs in the action. An action to recover for such loss, damage or injury may be brought in any court of competent jurisdiction by any such person or corporation.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5666; A.L. 1987 H.B. 360)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 5210; 1919 § 10498
(1984) The term "all damages" includes punitive damages and any allowance of attorney's fees, in the court's discretion as a means of equalizing the disparate positions of the parties. The term "willful", as used in this section, is not the level of intent needed for criminal liability of for punitive damages in tort cases. Overman v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. (Mo. App. W.D.), 675 S.W.2d 419.
2023 Missouri Revised Statutes › Title XXV - Incorporation and Regulation of Certain Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 392 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies › Section 392.360 - Forfeiture — penalties.

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS
Chapter 392
• Effective - 28 Aug 1987
392.360. Forfeiture — penalties. —
Every telecommunications company, and all officers, agents and employees of any telecommunications company shall obey, observe and comply with every order, direction or requirement made by the commission, under authority of this chapter, so long as the same shall be and remain in force. Any telecommunications company which shall violate any provision of sections 392.190 to 392.530, or which fails, omits or neglects to obey, observe or comply with any order or decision or any direction or requirement of the commission, shall forfeit to the state of Missouri not to exceed the sum of five thousand dollars for each and every offense. Every violation of any such order or decision or direction or requirement, or of said sections, shall be a separate and distinct offense, and, in case of a continuing violation, every day's continuance thereof shall be and be deemed to be a separate and distinct offense.
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(RSMo 1939 § 5682, A.L. 1987 H.B. 360)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 5226; 1919 § 10514