Cities in Missouri

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City-Related Pages

Laws governing local ballot measures • Initiative • Home rule • General law city • Charter city • Petition • Initiative petition circulation periods • Circulator • Paid circulator • Volunteer circulator • Circulator affidavit • Signer • Valid signature • Forged signature • Fraudulent signature • Invalid signature • Electronic petition signature • Legislative tampering • Registered voter

This page contains a list of cities in Missouri, and other information about local governments.

Missouri allows municipal charter cities and counties. There are 114 total counties in Missouri. Of those 114:^[1]

• 110 are subject to General law
• 4 are subject to Charter/Home rule

There are 955 total municipalities in Missouri. Of those 955, 911 of them are General law municipalities, 38 are Home rule charter cities, and 6 continue to operate under a state granted Special legislative charter.^[1]

Local government in Missouri consists of 114 counties, 312 townships, and 955 cities and villages. In addition, there are 1837 special districts and 534 independent school districts.^[2]

Further classifications:

Counties may be:

• General law: of which there are 110
• Home rule charter: of which there are 4 (Jackson, St. Charles, Jefferson, St. Louis County)

Cities and villages are classified as:

• Constitutional charter cities: A city must have a population over 5,000 to adopt a charter. 38 cities have done so.
• Special legislative charter cities and towns: of which there are 6 remaining
• Third class city (3,000-29,999 population at time of incorporation): of which there are 56
• Fourth class city (500-2,999 population at time of incorporation): of which there are approximately 550
• Village (fewer than 500 population at time of incorporation): of which there are approximately 300^[3](#'s as of 2007)

See also: Laws governing local ballot measures in Missouri

The availability of initiative varies depending upon the classification, form of government, and home rule status of a city or county.

Counties

All four charter counties have initiative for charter amendments and county measures.^[4][5][6][7]

Cities

• Constitutional charter cities: The Missouri Constitution Article VI Section 20 mandates that charter cities allow initiative for charter amendments and may also adopt an initiative process for ordinances. The charters of the eight most populated cities (Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Independence, Columbia, Lee's Summit, St. Joseph, and St. Charles) all permit initiative. Signature requirements and filing deadlines vary by charter.

• Third class cities:

Third class cities with a commission or a council-manager form of government have an initiative process for ordinances provided by state statutes, Missouri Revised Statutes Section 78.200 for commission and Section 78.573 for council-manager. The main difference between the two statutes is the required percentage of signatures. A Missouri court recently questioned whether Section 78.573 requires an enabling city ordinance to be available to citizens, but did not reach a definite holding on the issue.^[8]

Third class cities with a Mayor-Council and Mayor-Administrator-Council form of government are not granted initiative authority by state statutes.

• Fourth class cities and villages are not granted initiative authority by state statutes.^[9]

List of Most Populated Cities in Missouri
City[10]	Population	City Type	Next election
Kansas City	463,202	Charter	2015
St. Louis	318,069	Charter	2015
Springfield	160,660	Charter	N/A
Independence	117,213	Charter	N/A
Columbia	110,438	Charter	N/A
Lee's Summit	91,668	Charter	N/A
St. Joseph	77,185	Charter	N/A
St. Charles	66,598	Charter	N/A
O'Fallon	80,519	General law	N/A
St. Peters	53,264	General law	N/A

See also: List of Missouri cities

A guide to local ballot initiatives

As of the 2010 Census, there were 955 incorporated cities and towns in Missouri. A full list of cities in Missouri is available here.

• Laws governing local ballot measures in Missouri
• Missouri ballot measures
• Counties in Missouri