Missouri Laws 67.794 – Hearing on petition — notice by publication, content — costs how paid — two ..
1. Upon the filing of the petition with the county clerk pursuant to section 67.793, the county clerk shall present it to the governing body of the county who shall set the petition for hearing not less than thirty days nor more than forty days after the filing.
2. Notice shall be given by the governing body of the county of the time and place where the hearing will be held, by publication on three separate days in one or more newspapers having a general circulation within the territory proposed to be incorporated as a regional recreational district or to be added to an existing regional recreational district, the first of which publications shall be not less than twenty days prior to the date set for the hearing and if there is no such newspaper, then notice shall be posted in ten of the most public places in the territory, not less than twenty days prior to the date set for the hearing. This notice shall include a description of the territory as set out in the petition, names of municipalities located therein, and the type and rate of the tax to be levied, the name of the proposed district and the question of creating a regional recreational district or adding to an existing district.
3. The costs of printing and publication or posting of notices of public hearing thereon shall be paid in advance by the petitioners, and, if a district is organized or territory is added to an existing district pursuant to sections 67.792 to 67.799, such persons shall be reimbursed out of the funds received by the district from taxation or other sources.
4. If two or more petitions covering in part the same territory are filed prior to the public hearing upon the petition which is first filed, the petitions shall be consolidated for public hearing, and hearing on such petitions may be continued to permit the giving of notice of any subsequent petitions. At the public hearing upon the petitions, the petitioners in the petition first filed may move to amend the petition to include any part of the territory described in the subsequent petitions, either as originally filed or as amended. Any such motion shall be allowed by the governing body of the county. The public hearing shall proceed upon the first petition as originally filed or as so amended, and further proceedings upon any other petitions subsequently filed shall be stayed until the termination of all proceedings upon the first petition, or any petition may be dismissed or withdrawn upon motion of the petitioners therein by their representatives.