Officials from eight Jefferson County cities are pushing back against a proposed bill in the Missouri state Senate that would create a county boundary commission, which would handle annexation and consolidation requests instead of individual cities.
Officials from the eight communities said the commission would create unnecessary bureaucracy and limit community decision making.
St. Louis County has a boundary commission of its own.
Senate Bill 1344, which is sponsored by Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, has been referred to the local government, elections and pensions committee.
According to the bill, the boundary commission would have 11 members.
Two members would be from municipalities with a population of more than 20,000.
One member would be from municipalities with a population of more than 10,000.
Another member will represent all remaining municipalities with a population of 10,000 and less.
Four members would be appointed by Jefferson County Executive Dennis Gannon, three from unincorporated areas of the county and another from a city.
The remaining three members will be named by a group of county officials and one Gannon appointee.
Coleman said the Jefferson County master plan, which was adopted in November 2025 by the County Council, called for the commission’s creation.
“A necessary step of implementing that part of the master plan is authorizing legislation,” she said.
Coleman also said County Councilman Charles Groeteke asked her to sponsor the bill.
Pushback
Mayors and other government employees from Arnold, Byrnes Mill, Crystal City, De Soto, Festus, Herculaneum, Kimmswick and Pevely met Feb. 2 to discuss the bill and share their concerns.
In a Feb. 7 letter addressed to state Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, D-Kansas City, Arnold Mayor Bill Moritz shared his concerns about the commission.
“Municipalities exist because residents choose to govern themselves locally, based on their own priorities, needs and growth strategies,” he said. “SB 1344 undermines that principle by shifting critical development decisions to a county-level commission. Many commission members may not live in, work in or invest in the city of Arnold and therefore would be unable to fully understand the impact of their decisions.”
Crystal City officials sent a letter Feb. 5 to Coleman, echoing Moritz’s sentiments by saying a boundary commission would strip cities of their ability to plan responsibly for development, create uncertainty for businesses, add another layer of bureaucracy and weaken municipal autonomy.
Byrnes Mill Mayor Rob Kiczenski has called the bill “very limiting.”
“We have the pulse of the city, and we know what the comprehensive plan is for the city and what we intend to do long term,” he said. “Having somebody from Crystal City or Imperial or whatever come in to try to decide whether it’s good or not, it just doesn’t really fit the bill.”
Coleman said she was surprised to hear of these concerns and didn’t recall any negative feedback during the master plan’s development.
“It’s possible they were upset then and I just didn’t see that, and it makes sense the municipalities are concerned about it, but that is a big part of why we need (the commission),” Coleman said. “Jefferson County is an entire community, and we need to make sure that what’s good for the county is working in alignment with those municipalities.”
Coleman said there will be opportunities for public testimony and comment on the legislation in the future.
“I am certainly sympathetic about wanting to make sure the taxpayers are able to have a say and I’m really committed to that and that’s a part of what this is working to make sure happens,” she said.