Opponents of Prison Site, Inc. v. Carnahan

994 S.W.2d 573, 1999 Mo. App. LEXIS 194, 1999 WL 98095
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 23, 1999
DocketWD 56246, WD 56325
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 994 S.W.2d 573 (Opponents of Prison Site, Inc. v. Carnahan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Opponents of Prison Site, Inc. v. Carnahan, 994 S.W.2d 573, 1999 Mo. App. LEXIS 194, 1999 WL 98095 (Mo. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

EDWIN H. SMITH, Judge.

The Opponents of Prison Site, Inc., Janice Mahurin, Janet Smith, Patsy Cox, Patricia Thomas, Gregory Neubrand, and Crystal Noyes appeal from the circuit court’s judgment denying their petition for declaratory judgment, seeking to declare illegal the choice by the Honorable Mel *575 Carnahan, the Governor of the State of Missouri, of a site located in Bonne Terre, Missouri, as the site for construction of the Missouri Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center (the prison), and for injunctive relief, seeking to prohibit the respondents, the Governor; the Missouri Department of Corrections (the DOC); Richard Hanson, the Commissioner of the Office of Administration; Randall Allen, the Director of the Division of Design and Construction (the Division); the City of Bonne Terre, Missouri; Beneficial Services Corporation (the BSC); and the Missouri Public Facilities Corporation II (the MPFC), from constructing the prison on the Bonne Terre site.

On appeal, the appellants raise five points. In Points I and II, they claim that the trial court erred in denying their petition because the Governor’s selection of the site for the prison was done in violation of Chapter 21, 1 which reserved that right to the General Assembly, and in doing so, he violated the Separation of Powers Clause of the Missouri Constitution. In Point III, they claim that the trial court erred in denying their petition because Bonne Terre could not, through its agent, the BSC, legally acquire and convey the property to the State for construction of the prison in that it was outside the city limits and had not been annexed in accordance with state law. In Point IV, they claim that the trial court erred in concluding that they lacked standing to challenge Bonne Terre’s annexation of the property to be used for the prison site (the Coplin property). In Point V, the appellants claim the trial court erred in denying, for laches, their petition because the stipulated facts did not support a finding that the appellants neglected to bring their action for declaratory and injunctive relief within a reasonable time.

We affirm.

Facts

Site Selection

Sometime in April 1995, the DOC solicited proposals from various cities within the state for the location of a prison. The City of Bonne Terre submitted a proposal offering five alternative sites in and around the city as potential sites. On May 22, 1995, the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Corrections (the JCC) recommended Bonne Terre to the Governor as the site for construction of the prison. On May 25, 1995, the Governor approved the Committee’s recommendation. Sometime shortly thereafter, the individual appellants became aware of the Governor’s choice of sites. On May 26,1995, the DOC and the Division selected site five from among the alternative sites located in or around Bonne Terre for the location of the prison.

In the First Regular Session of the 88th General Assembly, the General Assembly enacted House Bill No. 18 appropriating $10,875,000 for the construction of the prison on the east side of the state. In September 1995, the State entered into a contract with Sverdrup Facilities, Inc., for the design of the prison.

In December 1995, Bonne Terre learned that the owners of site five were not willing to sell their property. Bonne Terre proceeded to offer the four other alternative sites for the prison, along with the real property owned by Allen Coplin, which was located outside Bonne Terre’s city limits. On December 6,1995, the BSC, as the agent for Bonne Terre, acquired an option to purchase for $1,200,000 the Coplin property before June 15, 1996. On June 14, 1996, this option was extended to January 10, 1997. The BSC is a community-based not-for-profit corporation which, pursuant to a March 2, 1995, contract with Bonne Terre, manages Bonne Terre’s economic development program.

On June 15, 1996, the DOC and the Division selected the Coplin property as *576 the new site for the location of the prison and entered into an agreement with Bonne Terre, whereby it agreed to convey, or cause to be conveyed, to the State the property at no cost to the State, excluding a certain portion which was to be retained by the city for a waste water treatment plant and roadway access to the prison. For its part, the State agreed to construct the prison on that property and, if it did not, then to reimburse Bonne Terre for the purchase price of the property.

Site Annexation

On October 7, 1996, Mr. Coplin submitted to the city a petition, pursuant to § 71.012, which governs voluntary annexation of property, requesting the. annexation of his property. On October 29, 1996, Bonne Terre published in the Daily Journal, a daily newspaper published in the area, a notice of public hearing on the petition to annex the Coplin property. On November 7, 1996, Bonne Terre held a public hearing on the petition. At the hearing, no one spoke in opposition to the proposed annexation. There were no written objections to the proposed annexation, pursuant to § 71.012.2(3), filed with the Bonne Terre City Council within fourteen days of the hearing by two percent or more of the qualified voters of Bonne Terre or by two qualified voters having ownership of the Coplin property.

On November 14, 1996, Bonne Terre passed Bill No. 11-96-21 enacting Ordinance 10.29, annexing the Coplin property. Also on November 14, 1996, Bonne Terre passed Bill No. 11-96-04, enacting Ordinance 10.29A, authorizing Bonne Terre to execute an agreement with Mr. Coplin, which provided:

Please accept this letter as a pre-annex-ation agreement by endorsing at the bottom of the page and returning to me. The City of Bonne Terre will hereby agree that your annexation will be valid only if the purchase of your land for the Eastern Missouri Diagnostic Center takes place in accordance with the plan agreed to by the State of Missouri and the City of Bonne Terre.

Both ordinances were filed with the St. Francois County Recorder of Deeds on December 11,1996.

Site Acquisition

On December 31, 1996, the BSC’s board of- directors authorized it to enter into a real estate contract for purchase of the Coplin property by a promissory note payable on February 14, 1997, and secured by a deed of trust on the property. On January 3, 1997, the BSC and Mr. Coplin signed a real estate contract for the sale and purchase of the Coplin property; the BSC executed a promissory note payable to Mr. Coplin, secured by a deed of trust on the property; and Mr. Coplin conveyed his property to the BSC. On January 30, 1997, Bonne Terre passed Bill No. 01-97-07 enacting an ordinance authorizing the issuance of Certificates of Participation for the purpose of providing funds to purchase the Coplin property and to pay for the costs of improving and extending Bonne Terre’s waterworks system. On February 10, 1997, the BSC conveyed to Bonne Terre that portion of the Coplin property to be used for the waste water treatment plant and roadway access to the prison and conveyed to the State that portion of the Coplin property to be used for construction of the prison.

In May 1997, the State entered into a contract with Bloomsdale Excavating Co., Inc., for preliminary site work for the prison.

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994 S.W.2d 573, 1999 Mo. App. LEXIS 194, 1999 WL 98095, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/opponents-of-prison-site-inc-v-carnahan-moctapp-1999.