Mo. Rev. Stat. » Chapter 247
Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 247.031 (2026)

Detachment from district, when

✓ laws through the 2026 session (checked Sept. 2026)
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  247.031.  Detachment from district, when — procedure — costs — petition form. — 1.  Territory included in a district that is not being served by such district may be detached from such district provided that there are no outstanding general obligation or special obligation bonds and no contractual obligations of greater than twenty-five thousand dollars for debt that pertains to infrastructure, fixed assets or obligations for the purchase of water.  If any such bonds or debt is outstanding, and the written consent of the holders of such bonds or the creditors to such debt is obtained, then such territory may be detached in spite of the existence of such bonds or debt, except such consent shall not be required for special obligation bonds if the district has no water lines or other facilities located within any of the territory detached.  Detachment may be made by the filing of a petition with the circuit court in which the district was incorporated.  The petition shall contain a description of the tract to be detached and a statement that the detachment is in the best interest of the district or the inhabitants and property owners of the territory to be detached, together with the facts supporting such allegation.  The petition may be submitted by the district acting through its board of directors, in which case the petition shall be signed by a majority of the board of directors of the district.  The petition may also be submitted by voters residing in or by landowners owning land in the territory sought to be detached.  If there are more than ten voters and landowners in such territory, the petition shall be signed by five or more voters or landowners within the territory; if there are less than ten voters and landowners within such territory, the petition shall be signed by fifty percent or more of the voters and landowners within the territory.  In the event there are no voters living within such territory proposed to be detached, then the petition may be submitted by owners of more than fifty percent of the land in the territory proposed to be detached, in which case said petition shall be signed by the owners so submitting the petition.  In the event the petition is not submitted by the district acting through its board of directors, the petitioner shall name the district as a defendant and serve a copy of the petition upon the district by certified or registered mail with a return receipt requested at least thirty-five days before the date of the hearing of the petition.

  2.  Such petition shall be filed in the circuit court having jurisdiction and the court shall set a date for hearing on the proposed detachment and the clerk of the circuit court shall give notice of the filing of the petition and the hearing to the district by certified or registered mail with a return receipt requested if the district is not the petitioner, and in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the proceedings are pending and in a newspaper of general circulation in the territory proposed to be detached.  Such notice shall be published in three consecutive issues of a weekly newspaper, or in lieu thereof, in twenty consecutive issues of a daily newspaper.  The last insertion of the notice shall be made not less than seven nor more than twenty-one days before the hearing date.  Such notice shall be substantially as follows:

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IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF ______ COUNTY, MISSOURI
NOTICE OF THE FILING OF A PETITION
FOR TERRITORIAL DETACHMENT FROM
PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY DISTRICT NO. ______
OF ______ COUNTY, MISSOURI.
To all voters and landowners of land within the boundaries of the above-described district:
You are hereby notified:
1. That a petition has been filed in this court for the detachment of the following tracts of land from the above-named public water supply district, as provided by law:
(Describe tracts of land).
2. That a hearing on said petition will be held before this court in ______ on the ______ day of ______, 20______, at ______, ______.m.
3. Exceptions or objections to the detachment of said tracts from said public water supply district may be made by the district or any voter or landowner of land within the district from which territory is sought to be detached, provided such exceptions or objections are in writing, specify the grounds on which they are made, and are filed with the court not later than five days prior to the date of the hearing of the petition.
4. The names and addresses of the attorneys for the petitioner are:
__________________ 
Clerk of the Circuit Court of
______ County, Missouri

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  3.  The court, for good cause shown, may continue the case or the hearing thereon from time to time until final disposition thereof.

  4.  Exceptions or objections to the detachment of such territory may be made by any voter or landowner within the boundaries of the district, including the territory to be detached.  In the event the petition is not submitted by the district acting through its board of directors, the district may file exceptions or objections.  Exceptions or objections shall be in writing, shall specify the grounds upon which they are made, and shall be filed not later than five days before the date set for hearing the petition.  In considering the petition for detachment, the court shall take into consideration the evidence in support of and opposition to the petition, including such exceptions and objections.  If the court finds that the detachment will be in the best interest of the district and the inhabitants and landowners of the area to be detached will not be adversely affected or if the court finds that the detachment will be in the best interest of the inhabitants and landowners of the territory to be detached and will not adversely affect the remainder of the district, it shall approve the detachment and grant the petition.

  5.  If the court approves the detachment, it shall make its order detaching the territory described in the petition from the remainder of the district, or in the event it shall find that only a portion of said territory should be detached, the court shall order such portion detached from the district.  The court shall also make any changes in subdistrict boundary lines it deems necessary to meet the requirements of sections 247.010 to 247.220.  Any subdistrict line changes shall not become effective until the next annual election of a member of the board of directors.

  6.  A certified copy of the court's order shall be filed in the office of the recorder of deeds and in the office of the county clerk in each county in which any of the territory of the district prior to detachment is located, and in the office of the secretary of state.  Costs of the proceeding shall be borne by the petitioner or petitioners.

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(L. 1988 H.B. 962, A.L. 2000 S.B. 741, A.L. 2002 S.B. 984 & 985, A.L. 2009 S.B. 196)

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1999–2023 · leading case: Robertson Props., Inc. v. Detachment of Territory From Pub. Water Supply Dist. No. 8 of Clay Cnty., 153 S.W.3d 320 (Mo. Ct. App. 2005).
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Robertson Props., Inc. v. Detachment of Territory From Pub. Water Supply Dist. No. 8 of Clay Cnty., 153 S.W.3d 320 (Mo. Ct. App. 2005). · cites it 44× “This is an appeal from a judgment in an action brought by Robertson Properties (Robertson) under Section 247.031 1 to detach approximately fifty-five acres of land from the defendant Public Water Supply District No.”
Allen v. Pub. Water Supply Dist. No. 5 of Jefferson Cnty., 7 S.W.3d 537 (Mo. Ct. App. 1999). · cites it 26× “5 of Jefferson County, MO, (“District”), appeals from the judgment of the trial court allowing Floyd Allen and Yvonne Allen, (“landowners”), to detach their land from appellant pursuant to section 247.031, RSMo 1994. 1 We affirm. Landowners are owners of two tracts of real…”
Robertson Props., Inc. v. Pub. Water Supply Dist. No. 8 of Clay Cnty., 210 S.W.3d 246 (Mo. Ct. App. 2006). · cites it 13× “The trial court then ordered detachment under section 247.031 based on its finding that detachment would not adversely affect the remainder of the District.”
Pub. Water Supply Dist. No. 5 of Jefferson Cnty. v. City of DeSoto, 8 S.W.3d 206 (Mo. Ct. App. 1999). · cites it 14× “170, and instead allowed the detachment to occur pursuant to section 247.031. We affirm. In June 1997 and April 1998, the City of DeSoto voluntarily annexed 12.”
Staff of The Missouri Pub. Serv. Comm'n v. Consol. Pub. Water Supply Dist. C-1 of Jefferson Cnty., 474 S.W.3d 643 (Mo. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 6× “, section 247.031 (permitting the owners or residents of territory in a public water supply district that is not being served by the district to petition to detach the territory from the district); .”
Horn v. Pub. Water Supply Dist. No. 8 of Clay Cnty., 153 S.W.3d 330 (Mo. Ct. App. 2005). · cites it 6× “On May 19, 2003, the Horns filed a petition for detachment, pursuant to Section 247.031, RSMo, seeking to have the forty acres detached from the boundaries of the Water District.”
Pub. Water Supply Dist. No. 14 of Jackson Cnty. v. Scoville, 221 S.W.3d 493 (Mo. Ct. App. 2007). · cites it 9× “14’s territory pursuant to Section 247.031, RSMo Supp. 2005. This statute “provides a statutory *495 right to a landowner to detach its land from a district if certain conditions are met, and it provides certain procedures to follow in order to accomplish this task.”
Chance v. Pub. Water Supply Dist. No 16, 41 S.W.3d 523 (Mo. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 2× “Section 247.031 affords the voters residing within water district territory the opportunity to petition for detachment from the district.”
City of Harrisonville v. Pub. Water Supply Dist. No. 9, 49 S.W.3d 225 (Mo. Ct. App. 2001). “The court noted that there is a distinction between individuals and municipalities with regard to detachment from water districts, with § 247.031 affording the voters residing within water district territory the opportunity to petition for detachment from the district, and §§…”
Staff of The Missouri Pub. Serv. Comm'n v. Consol. Pub. Water Supply Dist. C-1 of Jefferson Cnty., No. WD78507 (Mo. Ct. App. Nov. 17, 2015). · cites it 6× “, section 247.031 (permitting the owners or residents of territory in a public water supply district that is not being served by the district to petition to detach the territory from the district); section 247.”
B&G Land Dev., LLC v. Jackson Cnty. Pub. Water Supply Dist. 17, 681 S.W.3d 680 (Mo. Ct. App. 2023). · cites it 2× “EFFECT OF DETACHMENT ON THE DISTRICT In Point III, B&G argues that, because the District is not entitled to Section 1926(b) protection, the circuit court erred in failing to find that B&G met the criteria for detachment under Section 247.”
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 247.031(1): 2 cases
Robertson Props., Inc. v. Detachment of Territory From Pub. Water Supply Dist. No. 8 of Clay Cnty., 153 S.W.3d 320 (Mo. Ct. App. 2005). “This is an appeal from a judgment in an action brought by Robertson Properties (Robertson) under Section 247.031 1 to detach approximately fifty-five acres of land from the defendant Public Water Supply District No.”
Robertson Props., Inc. v. Pub. Water Supply Dist. No. 8 of Clay Cnty., 210 S.W.3d 246 (Mo. Ct. App. 2006). “The trial court then ordered detachment under section 247.031 based on its finding that detachment would not adversely affect the remainder of the District.”
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 247.031(4): 2 cases
Robertson Props., Inc. v. Detachment of Territory From Pub. Water Supply Dist. No. 8 of Clay Cnty., 153 S.W.3d 320 (Mo. Ct. App. 2005). “This is an appeal from a judgment in an action brought by Robertson Properties (Robertson) under Section 247.031 1 to detach approximately fifty-five acres of land from the defendant Public Water Supply District No.”
Robertson Props., Inc. v. Pub. Water Supply Dist. No. 8 of Clay Cnty., 210 S.W.3d 246 (Mo. Ct. App. 2006). “The trial court then ordered detachment under section 247.031 based on its finding that detachment would not adversely affect the remainder of the District.”
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