History

The origin of the word "county" pre-dates the United States of America by over a thousand years. As far back as 603 A.D., English kings began organizing their lands into "shires" administered by "reeves," leading eventually to the modern "sheriff." When the Normans invaded in 1066, bringing their language with them, these shires became known as "contes," or counties. The signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 brought the king's representatives into county government. These included the counterparts of the modern-day auditor, treasurer, recorder of deeds, and coroner in addition to the sheriff.

When the U.S. Congress designated Missouri a territory in 1812, the boundaries of five counties were set out. Jefferson County was formed by an act of the Legislature of the Territory of Missouri, three years before the State of Missouri was admitted into the United States in 1821. The entire population of the county at that time was approximately 2,500 people.

Missouri's current constitution was adopted in 1945. It groups Missouri's counties into four classes. First-class counties, by a majority vote, can choose not to utilize the form of county government provided by the state constitution. Instead, they can adopt a "home-rule" charter that sets out a different governmental structure. Counties begin this process either when their existing county government places the measure on the ballot, or when a petition is gathered with enough signatures and submitted to the County Clerk.

St. Louis County has operated under such a charter since 1950. Jackson County (Kansas City) adopted a charter in 1970 after several tries. In its second effort, St. Charles County adopted a charter in 1992. Several other counties have considered and voted on charter proposals: Buchanan County in 1949 and 1974, Clay County in 1969 and 2005, Greene County in 1980, and Boone County in 1982.

Jefferson County voted to appoint charter commissions in 1972 and 1986, but voters did not pass the documents written by those commissions. In 1996, a ballot measure to appoint a third charter commission did not carry a majority. In 2007, the group Citizens for Charter Government collected nearly 10,000 signatures, and the current Charter Commission was appointed in December 2007. Jefferson County's population currently stands at approximately 250,000 -- a hundred times its population when it was organized in 1818.

The current Charter Commission has one year from the date of their appointment to draft and approve a charter document, and submit it to a vote of the people. If a majority of county voters choose to adopt the charter, it will become the new basic law of Jefferson County, in much the same fashion as the Missouri Constitution is the basic law of the state.

Information in this article about events prior to 1972 are sourced primarily from "County Government in Missouri," by John Ballard, in Missouri Government and Politics, Revised ed., pp. 305-320. University of Missouri Press, Columbia, MO, 1995.