Section 2 Constitutional and Statutory Provisions

• Library: Administrative Law 2011

Most agencies are created by statute. The main executive branch departments have their origins in the Constitution. Agencies have only the authority granted by the statute or constitutional provision: “The key principle is that administrative agencies—legislative creations—possess only those powers expressly conferred or necessarily implied by statute.” Bodenhausen v. Mo. Bd. of Registration for Healing Arts,
900 S.W.2d 621, 622 (Mo. banc 1995).

While the principle that administrative agencies have only those powers expressly conferred or necessarily implied is not controversial, it was reaffirmed by the Supreme Court of Missouri in an interesting context in Board of Education of City of St. Louis v. State, 47 S.W.3d 366
(Mo. banc 2001). The General Assembly amended § 162.601, now RSMo Supp. 2010, in 1998 to reduce the number of school board districts and rearrange the election dates. The school board filed a declaratory judgment action, arguing that the statute was unconstitutionally void for vagueness because it failed to adequately specify which of the new seats were to be up for election in what years. The respondents—the State of Missouri, the Governor, the Missouri State Board of Education, and the Board of Election Commissioners of the City of St. Louis—argued that the school board had the power to “fill in the details” of the statute. Bd. of Educ. of City of St. Louis, 47 S.W.3d at 370. The Supreme Court agreed with the school board...