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Read. Follow. Verify.Missouri House Bill 2600 Modifies Governance, Annexation, and Consolidation Rules for Ambulance Districts
Last action · May 7, 2026: Placed on Informal CalendarSponsor: Jeff Farnan
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What This Bill Would Do
House Bill 2600 modifies the procedures for electing ambulance district directors, annexing territory, and consolidating multiple districts into a single entity. The bill authorizes ambulance districts to establish election s by ordinance, changes petition requirements from county commissioners to the board of directors, and outlines an alternative consolidation process involving public hearings and written objections.
The measure directly alters how local emergency medical service districts are governed, how residents petition to join a district, and how neighboring districts combine operations, affecting local property tax rates and district board elections for residents living within ambulance districts.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Ambulance district voters
Voters face modified petition processes for annexation, new rules for district consolidation objections, and potential changes to how board directors are elected.
Ambulance district boards of directors
Boards gain authority to receive annexation petitions, adopt election subdistrict ordinances by a two-thirds vote, and initiate consolidation resolutions.
County commissions
County commissions transition certain petition filing and oversight duties over to ambulance district boards and execute consolidations based on objection filings.
Key Facts
- Ambulance districts may adopt and establish election subdistricts by ordinance if approved by a two-thirds majority vote of the board of directors.
- If the number of candidates for the office of director is less than the number of directors to be elected, no election is held and candidates assume office.
- A petition for annexation of land to an ambulance district must be presented to the board of directors of the ambulance district rather than the county commission.
- Consolidation of ambulance districts requires a consolidation plan detailing assets, debts, maintaining district responsibility, initial directors, and a timeline not exceeding one hundred eighty days.
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- Consolidation notices must be published in a newspaper of general circulation once per week for two consecutive weeks, followed by a joint public hearing.
- If no written objections signed by at least five percent of the voters cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election are filed within thirty days of the public hearing, the county commission orders the consolidation pursuant to the plan without a public vote.
- Without a resident vote, a consolidated ambulance district is prohibited from imposing a property or sales tax greater than the lowest existing rate among the consolidating districts.
- Districts that have contracted for ambulance service for more than five consecutive years may submit a joint resolution to consolidate smaller districts into the larger district without notice or public hearings.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are annexation petitions handled under the new provisions?
Can ambulance districts consolidate without holding a public election?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed chamber. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
26 actions- May 7, 2026HousePlaced on Informal Calendar
- Apr 16, 2026SenateCommitteeReported Do Pass (S)
- Apr 13, 2026SenateCommitteeVoted Do Pass (S)
- Apr 13, 2026SenateExecutive Session Held (S)
- Apr 7, 2026SenatePublic Hearing Held (S)
- Apr 2, 2026SenatePublic Hearing Scheduled (S)
Show 20 earlier actions
- Mar 23, 2026SenateCommitteeSecond read and referred: Local Government, Elections and Pensions(S)
- Mar 10, 2026SenateReported to the Senate and First Read (S)
- Mar 9, 2026HouseFloorThird Read and Passed with Amendments (H)
- Mar 9, 2026HouseTaken Up for Third Reading (H)
- Mar 4, 2026HousePerfected with Amendments (H)
- Mar 4, 2026HouseHCS Adopted (H)
- Mar 4, 2026HouseTitle of Bill - Agreed To
- Mar 4, 2026HouseTaken Up for Perfection (H)
- Feb 26, 2026HouseCommitteeReported Do Pass (H)
- Feb 26, 2026HouseCommitteeVoted Do Pass (H)
- Feb 26, 2026HouseExecutive Session Completed (H)
- Feb 23, 2026HouseCommitteeReferred: Rules - Administrative(H)
- Feb 12, 2026HouseCommitteeHCS Reported Do Pass (H)
- Feb 11, 2026HouseCommitteeHCS Voted Do Pass (H)
- Feb 11, 2026HouseExecutive Session Completed (H)
- Jan 28, 2026HousePublic Hearing Completed (H)
- Jan 15, 2026HouseCommitteeReferred: Local Government(H)
- Jan 8, 2026HouseFloorRead Second Time (H)
- Jan 7, 2026HouseIntroducedRead First Time (H)
- Dec 29, 2025HouseIntroducedPrefiled (H)
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Shift of Annexation Authority
The bill shifts the primary review of ambulance district annexation petitions from county commissions directly to the district boards of directors.
Connected Entities
Sources
house.mo.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy25Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz20Current news / social attention level
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