Opinion ID: 2173448
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Missouri Constitution's Special Law Prohibition

Text: Today, article III, section 40(30) of the Missouri Constitution provides that [t]he general assembly shall not pass any local or special law . . . where a general law can be made applicable, and whether a general law could have been made applicable is a judicial question to be judicially determined without regard to any legislative assertion on that subject. (emphasis added). A law is facially special if it is based on close-ended characteristics, such as historical facts, geography, or constitutional status. Tillis v. City of Branson, 945 S.W.2d 447, 449 (Mo. banc 1997). A facially special law is presumed to be unconstitutional. O'Reilly v. City of Hazelwood, 850 S.W.2d 96, 99 (Mo. banc 1993). The party defending the facially special statute must demonstrate a `substantial justification' for the special treatment. Harris v. Missouri Gaming Comm'n, 869 S.W.2d 58, 65 (Mo. banc 1994). A law based on open-ended characteristics is not facially special and is presumed to be constitutional. O'Reilly, 850 S.W.2d at 99. Population classifications are open-ended in that others may fall into the classification. State ex rel. City of Blue Springs v. Rice, 853 S.W.2d 918, 921 (Mo. banc 1993). Such laws are not special if the classification is made on a reasonable basis. Blaske v. Smith & Entzeroth, Inc., 821 S.W.2d 822, 831 (Mo. banc 1991). The test for whether a statute with an open-ended classification is special legislation under article III, section 40 of the Missouri Constitution is similar to the rational basis test used in equal protection analyses. Id. at 832. The burden is on the party challenging the constitutionality of the statute to show that the statutory classification is arbitrary and without a rational relationship to a legislative purpose. Treadway v. State, 988 S.W.2d 508, 511 (Mo. banc 1999). The rationale for holding that population classifications are open-ended fails, however, where the classification is so narrow that as a practical matter others could not fall into that classification. Where a classification is this narrow, the presumption that a population-based classification is open-ended, and therefore a general law, would contravene the purpose behind the constitutional prohibition against special legislation. To address this situation, and to provide a guide by which the courts can determine whether a population classification will maintain its presumption of constitutionality, this Court will apply a multifaceted test. The presumption that a population-based classification is constitutional is overcome if: (1) a statute contains a population classification that includes only one political subdivision, (2) other political subdivisions are similar in size to the targeted political subdivision, yet are not included, and (3) the population range is so narrow that the only apparent reason for the narrow range is to target a particular political subdivision and to exclude all others. If all three circumstances exist, the law is no longer presumed to be general, but is presumed to be a special law, requiring those defending it to show substantial justification for the classification. Because of the General Assembly's possible reliance on previous cases not articulating this presumption, only statutes passed after the date of this opinion are subject to this analysis.