Opinion ID: 1663485
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Practice of Missouri Administrative Agencies

Text: This result is contrary to key principles of Missouri administrative law. The main administrative tribunal, the Administrative Hearing Commission, has accepted as proof of mailing only registered mail since 1980. See § 621.205 RSMo 1986. In 1991, the General Assembly changed the law to allow certified mail also. S.B. 283, Vernon's Mo. Legis. Service 580, 581 (1991) (restoring the pre-1980 requirement altered by the original enactment of § 621.205). Even a postmark does not qualify to prove date of filing at the Administrative Hearing Commission. See, e.g., Evergreen Lawn Service, Inc. v. Director of Revenue, 685 S.W.2d 829 (Mo. banc 1985) (deadline for filing in person is thirtieth day; if office is closed that day, deadline is next day that the office is open); Springfield Park Central Hospital v. Director of Revenue, 643 S.W.2d 599 (Mo.1983) (filing by regular mail does not extend deadline by three days; pleading must be received in office by thirtieth day); City of St. Louis v. Director of Revenue, 654 S.W.2d 118 (Mo. App.1983) (filing by express mail must be received in office by thirtieth day); Cardinal Glennon Memorial Hospital Coffee Shop v. Director of Revenue, 624 S.W.2d 115 (Mo.App.1981) (filing by mail received on the thirty-second day because the office was closed on the thirtieth day was late). Several other statutes require that materials are deemed filed with a state agency when received unless sent by registered or certified mail. A declaration of candidacy for elected office must be filed in person with two exceptions for registered or certified mail. § 115.355 RSMo 1986. Pleadings with the State Tax Commission are deemed filed at the time of mailing only if sent by registered or certified mail. § 138.433 RSMo 1986. Several tax statutes deem documents filed as of the date postmarked on the envelope or other container in which the documents are sent. See § 142.140 RSMo 1986 (filing of monthly report by distributorsgas tax); § 142.517 RSMo 1986 (filing of monthly report by licenseesdiesel tax); § 143.851 RSMo 1986 (filing of all documents related to income tax); cf. § 130.046 RSMo Supp.1990 (campaign finance reports). Neither appellant nor the principal opinion have cited any state agency that accepts the date stamped by a postal meter as the date of filing. Missouri administrative law, thus, requires that some government official certify that a filing was either sent to or received by the agency in a timely fashion. True, the statute governing appeals to the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission, like the statutes for some other agencies, consider a simple postmark to be proof of timely filing, rather than requiring that the pleading be sent by certified or registered mail. This difference does not logically indicate a legislative intent to allow a party to self-certify the date of filing. The most logical reading of this difference is that an appeal may be filed at reduced cost with the LIRC by allowing a simple postmark to certify the date.