Constitutional charter cities come within the provisions of the State and Local Records Law, Sections 109.200 et seq., V.A.M.S.

PUBLIC RECORDS: CITIES, TOWNS & VILLAGES: CONSTITUTIONAL CHARTER CITIES: Constitutional charter cities come within the provisions of the State and Local Records Law, Sections 109.200 et seq., V.A.M.S. OPINION NO. 4 April 11, 1974 Honorable James C. Kirkpatrick Secretary of State State Capitol Building Jefferson City, Missouri 65101 Dear Mr. Kirkpatrick: This is in response to your request for an opinion on the question of whether or not constitutional charter cities are sub- ject to the State and Local Records Law, Sections 109.200 et seq., V.A.M.S. You also inquire whether there are state and local agencies which are not included within the provisions of that law. Your second question is too general to answer. Should a dispute arise in the future concerning a specific agency, this office will give a ruling at that time concerning the applicability of law to that agency. However, your attention is directed to Opinion No. 285 dated September 14, 1965, to Kirkpatrick, which held that a predecessor act concerning public records did not apply to the University of Missouri. The reasoning of that opinion applies equally to the present law. Therefore, the University of Missouri is not covered by the State and Local Records Law. Your first question depends on whether or not the definition of the word "agency" in Section 109.210(1) includes a constitu- tional charter city. Agency is defined as: 111 Agency', any department, office, com- mission, board or other unit of state govern- ment or any political or administrative sub- divisions created for any purpose under the authorities of or by the state of Missouri;" Honorable James C. Kirkpatrick We note that subsection 1 of Section 109.255, V.A.M.S. , au- thorizes the Secretary of State to appoint local board members as follows: " The secretary of state is he reby authorized to appoint and serve as chairman of a local records board to advise, counsel, and judge what local records shall be retained , copied, preserved, or disposed of and in what manner these functions shall be carried out by .the director. This board shall represent a wide area of public interest in local records and shall consist of at leas t twelve members one of whom shall represent school boards, one constitutional charter city, one third class city, one fourth class city, one village , one township, one for each class of county, one higher education, one historical society and such other members as the secretary of state shall direct." (Emphasis added) This provision indicates a clear legislat ive intent that con- stitutional charter cities are included within the purview of these statutes. In our view a constitutional charter city is an "agency" with- in the provisions of the State and Local Records Law. It is also our view that such state law controls notwithstanding any cont rary city charter provisions. CONCLUSION It is the opinion of this office that constitutional c harter cities come within the provisions o f the State and Local Records Law, Sections 109.200 et seq., V. A.M.S. The foregoing opinion, which I hereby approve, was prepared by my assistant, John c. Klaffenbach. Yours very truly , ">.-« .~u JOHN C. DANFORTH Attorney General -2-