Section 3.32 Police Power

• Library: Local Government Deskbook (2017 Ed.)

a. (§3.32) Police Power

The police power that a governmental entity may be authorized to exercise is enacted in a police ordinance. In the common meaning of the phrase, “[t]he police power extends to conditions which bear a substantial relation to the public health, morality, safety or welfare.” City of Independence v. Richards, 666 S.W.2d 1, 4 (Mo. App. W.D. 1983) (emphasis added), and is, therefore, quite extensive. In its even broader but much less usual sense, the police power “encompasses every regulation—and hence restriction—on the use of private property” and includes the power of eminent domain. Id. at 4 n.2. Ordinances invoking the police power generally subject violators to penalties; therefore, their prohibitions must provide a clear standard so that a person can know what action is proscribed and so that the standard of conduct is not “left to the unassisted judgment of the policeman, administrator or judicial officer.” Id. at 7.

A municipality may exercise its general police powers by enacting ordinances for the welfare and safety of its citizens.

An ordinance is presumed a valid exercise of police power and the party challenging the ordinance carries the burden of showing that it is unreasonable. An ordinance is a legitimate exercise of police power if the expressed requirements of the ordinance bear a

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