Mo. Rev. Stat. » Chapter 304
Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 304.120 (2026)

Municipal regulations

✓ current as of May 2026
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  304.120.  Municipal regulations — owner or lessor not liable for violations, when. — 1.  Municipalities, by ordinance, may establish reasonable speed regulations for motor vehicles within the limits of such municipalities.  No person who is not a resident of such municipality and who has not been within the limits thereof for a continuous period of more than forty-eight hours shall be convicted of a violation of such ordinances, unless it is shown by competent evidence that there was posted at the place where the boundary of such municipality joins or crosses any highway a sign displaying in black letters not less than four inches high and one inch wide on a white background the speed fixed by such municipality so that such sign may be clearly seen by operators and drivers from their vehicles upon entering such municipality.

  2.  Municipalities, by ordinance, may:

  (1)  Make additional rules of the road or traffic regulations to meet their needs and traffic conditions;

  (2)  Establish one-way streets and provide for the regulation of vehicles thereon;

  (3)  Require vehicles to stop before crossing certain designated streets and boulevards;

  (4)  Limit the use of certain designated streets and boulevards to passenger vehicles, except that each municipality shall allow at least one route, with lawful traffic movement and access from both directions, to be available for use by commercial motor vehicles to access any roads in the state highway system.  Under no circumstances shall the provisions of this subdivision be construed to authorize a municipality to limit the use of all routes in the municipality.  The use by commercial motor vehicles of a municipality-designated route for such vehicles in compliance with any ordinances of the designating municipality shall not be deemed a nuisance or evidence of a nuisance.  Nothing contained in this subdivision is intended to modify or limit recovery for any claim that is independent of a nuisance claim;

  (5)  Prohibit the use of certain designated streets to vehicles with metal tires, or solid rubber tires;

  (6)  Regulate the parking of vehicles on streets by the installation of parking meters for limiting the time of parking and exacting a fee therefor or by the adoption of any other regulatory method that is reasonable and practical, and prohibit or control left-hand turns of vehicles;

  (7)  Require the use of signaling devices on all motor vehicles; and

  (8)  Prohibit sound-producing warning devices, except horns directed forward.

  3.  No ordinance shall be valid which contains provisions contrary to or in conflict with this chapter, except as herein provided.

  4.  No ordinance shall impose liability on the owner-lessor of a motor vehicle when the vehicle is being permissively used by a lessee and is illegally parked or operated if the registered owner-lessor of such vehicle furnishes the name, address and operator's license number of the person renting or leasing the vehicle at the time the violation occurred to the proper municipal authority within three working days from the time of receipt of written request for such information.  Any registered owner-lessor who fails or refuses to provide such information within the period required by this subsection shall be liable for the imposition of any fine established by municipal ordinance for the violation.  Provided, however, if a leased motor vehicle is illegally parked due to a defect in such vehicle, which renders it inoperable, not caused by the fault or neglect of the lessee, then the lessor shall be liable on any violation for illegal parking of such vehicle.

  5.  No ordinance shall deny the use of commercial motor vehicles on all routes within the municipality.  For purposes of this section, the term "route" shall mean any state road, county road, or public street, avenue, boulevard, or parkway.

  6.  No ordinance shall prohibit the operator of a motor vehicle from being in an intersection while a red signal is being displayed if the operator of the motor vehicle entered the intersection during a yellow signal interval.  The provisions of this subsection shall supercede any local laws, ordinances, orders, rules, or regulations enacted by a county, municipality, or other political subdivision that are to the contrary.

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(RSMo 1939 § 8395, A.L. 1943 p. 659, A. 1949 S.B. 1113, A.L. 1975 H.B. 83, A.L. 2012 H.B. 1251 merged with H.B. 1402 merged with S.B. 470 merged with S.B. 480, A.L. 2013 H.B. 103, A.L. 2017 S.B. 8 merged with S.B. 283)

Prior revisions: 1929 § 7780; 1919 § 7596

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 32 cases, 1960–2017 · leading case: Ballard v. City of Creve Coeur, 419 S.W.3d 109 (Mo. Ct. App. 2013).
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Ballard v. City of Creve Coeur, 419 S.W.3d 109 (Mo. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 15× “Section 304.120 RSMo. (Supp.2012). I would hold that the city’s ordinance conflicts with state law.”
Brunner v. City of Arnold, 427 S.W.3d 201 (Mo. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 14× “Does City have authority to enact the Ordinance? To begin, Appellants argue that Arnold lacked authority to enact the Ordinance for three reasons: (1) the Ordinance was not validly enacted pursuant to City’s statutory grant of authority provided by Section 304.120 because the…”
Edwards v. City of Ellisville, 426 S.W.3d 644 (Mo. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 10× “3d at 425 (citing Section 304.120; City of Creve Coeur v. Nottebrok, 356 S.”
City of St. Peters, Missouri v. Bonnie A. Roeder, 466 S.W.3d 538 (Mo. 2015). · cites it 8× “Further, section 304.120 provides that “[n]o ordinance shall be valid which contains provisions contrary to or in conflict with this chapter, except as herein provided.”
Unverferth v. City of Florissant, 419 S.W.3d 76 (Mo. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 8× “The trial court also ruled that Florissant had statutory authority to enact the Ordinance under its police power as granted by Section 304.120. On appeal, Unverferth claims that the Ordinance was not enacted pursuant to Florissant’s statutory authority or its police power.”
Smith v. City of St. Louis, 409 S.W.3d 404 (Mo. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 6× “The trial court found that although Section 304.120 grants municipalities the power to make additional rules of the road or traffic regulations to meet their needs and traffic conditions, the Ordinance at hand performs neither function because it merely authorizes the use of an…”
Jim Pepper v. St. Charles Cnty., Missouri, 517 S.W.3d 590 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 8× “Section 304.120 RSMo. (Supp. 2013) provides that “[mjunicipalities, by ordinance, may” establish traffic regulations that, inter alia, set speed limits, establish one-way streets, require traffic to stop before crossing intersections, limit use of designated streets to passenger…”
Auto. Club of Missouri v. City of St. Louis, 334 S.W.2d 355 (Mo. 1960). · cites it 12× “4 invalid as vesting in the commission arbitrary power to set parking fees at less than the designated maximum without requisite standards; Section Ten invalid for making fines for violation of the Parking Meter Ordinance a part of the parking meter fund, declaring “such fines…”
City of Greenwood v. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., 299 S.W.3d 606 (Mo. Ct. App. 2009). · cites it 4× “Indeed, Section 304.120 expressly grants municipalities the authority to regulate and restrict access to its roads.”
Wilson v. City of Waynesville, 615 S.W.2d 640 (Mo. Ct. App. 1981). · cites it 6× “It is the position of defendants that Section 3 is constitutional and a valid exercise of the city’s police power under several statutes 3 including § 304.120, par. 2(1). 4 *643 Each of defendants’ five points asserts that the trial court erred in finding Section 3 to be…”
City of St. Louis v. Stenson, 333 S.W.2d 529 (Mo. Ct. App. 1960). · cites it 8× “Municipalities, by ordinance may make additional rules of the road or traffic regulations to meet their needs and traffic conditions.”
Orla Holman Cemetery, Inc. v. Robert W. Plaster Trust, 304 S.W.3d 112 (Mo. 2010). · cites it 3× “Similarly, § 304.120 allows municipalities, by ordinance, to make traffic regulations “within the limits of such municipalities.”
Show all 32 citing cases →
— Mo. Rev. Stat. § 304.120(2) — 1 case
Auto. Club of Missouri v. City of St. Louis, 334 S.W.2d 355 (Mo. 1960). “4 invalid as vesting in the commission arbitrary power to set parking fees at less than the designated maximum without requisite standards; Section Ten invalid for making fines for violation of the Parking Meter Ordinance a part of the parking meter fund, declaring “such fines…”
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