Two Jefferson County cities have joined a lawsuit asking a Cole County judge to ditch a law that hinders the county cities’ ability to annex property.
De Soto and Herculaneum on Sept. 25 joined the lawsuit filed by Crystal City last month, asking Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green to remove the law that says Jefferson County cities, towns and villages are only allowed to annex land if 25 percent of the property is contiguous with its border, and cities, towns and villages are only allowed to annex property once every two years.
On July 13, Gov. Mike Kehoe signed House Bill 2818 that placed the annexation restrictions on Jefferson County cities. The law went into effect on Aug. 28.
A civil setting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Oct. 14 to set a hearing date for Green to decide whether to issue a preliminary injunction to temporarily stop the enforcement of the restrictions, according to court documents.
“It is harmful to the county,” Herculaneum Mayor Ryan Wright said. “We feel singled out in the state. We feel like it was a bill made just for us. We are hoping that once the lawyers get in front of the court, they will see it our way and that the section can be repealed.”
De Soto City Manager Todd Melkus said City Attorney Mark Bishop of the Wegmann Law Firm, who also represents Herculaneum, recommended the cities of De Soto and Herculaneum join the lawsuit because those cities are a different classification than Crystal City.
Crystal City is a third-class city. Herculaneum is a fourth-class city, and De Soto is a third-class city with a city-manager form of government.
The motion for De Soto and Herculaneum to join the lawsuit said, “Crystal City necessarily represents its own annexation interests. It does not represent Herculaneum’s distinct interests as a fourth-class city or De Soto’s distinct interests arising from its city-manager form of government.”
“The way Mr. Bishop interpreted it is that we should be added in that manner,” Melkus said. “With this situation, if no one joined in and Crystal City were to be successful, it would obviously affect all of us.”
Crystal City, which is represented by Robert Bateman and Brandon Moonier of the Thurman Law Firm, filed its lawsuit on Aug. 26 in an attempt to stop the annexation restrictions before the bill became a law two days later.
“Initially we were all going to join and be part of the initial suit with Thurman,” Melkus said. “Since we have our own contract council, the decision was made to be added on to it, so they could potentially help out however this plays out when it comes to research or work that needs to be done.”
Wright said Herculaneum Board of Aldermen members voted unanimously on Sept. 21 to join and spend up to $5,000 for the lawsuit.
“I am thankful our board saw the importance of this,” he said. “I am also thankful for Crystal City leading the charge. Hopefully, we can make this right.”
Melkus said De Soto City Council members will vote on being part of the lawsuit on Oct. 19, and he did not expect the council to set a limit on how much the city will spend fighting the annexation rules.
“Mr. Bishop said we don’t have to, but he would rather us do something official by a vote of the council in case anything came up down the road,” Melkus said. “I don’t see us putting a number on it. Whether it turns out to be $5,000 or $20,000, hopefully it turns out to be a lower number, I don’t foresee them putting a limit on it.
“If it gets to a certain point, the council may say we have spent enough and it is not going anywhere. They may make that call. I have no idea what their thoughts would be about that part of the process.”
The bill originally only requested to allow the city of St. Joseph to annex a city-owned airport that is not within the city’s limits or contiguous to its borders.
The lawsuit says the restrictions are unconstitutional because the annexation restrictions imposed on Jefferson County cities are not related to the original bill. The lawsuit also said the restrictions placed on Jefferson County cities are different from other municipalities in the state.
The bill says the 25 percent contiguous restriction and two-year waiting period between annexation only applies to cities that are in counties that have a population between 200,000-230,000. The lawsuit says Jefferson County is the only county that meets that parameter as the county has a population of 226,739 according to the 2020 U.S. Census data.
The bill also restricted annexations by cities in St. Charles County, but the law only limits annexation by requiring 18 percent of property be contiguous with a city, town or village.
Melkus said the two-year wait between annexing property is the most harmful annexation restriction.
“A lot of times if you were to have a decent size development that someone wants to annex in there are multiple parcels involved even though it may be the same property owner,” he said. “That could cause an issue if you have 20 acres but there are four parcels, then it would take eight years to annex that in instead of doing it at one time. In my opinion, that is the biggest issue.”
In the state’s answer to the lawsuit on Sept. 30, assistant attorney general Sean McDowell wrote the cities’ request to eliminate the annexation restrictions should not be granted.
McDowell wrote the amendments restricting annexations in Jefferson and St. Charles counties were allowed because the bill only addresses annexation procedures. He also said Jefferson County cities are not harmed by the 25 percent contiguous and two-year wait between annexations because those restrictions apply to counties with populations between 200,000 and 230,000, and according to 2025 census data, Jefferson County’s population is 233,132.
“Plaintiff cannot be harmed by a statute that does not apply to plaintiff,” McDowell wrote. “Therefore, plaintiff lacks standing under the 2025 population of Jefferson County.”