Smith v. Taney Cnty.
Smith v. Taney Cnty.
Opinion of the Court
The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Taney County (the County) and against Greg and Stephanie Smith (the Smiths) in their action to declare a "nightly rental" zoning ordinance invalid. Because the County failed to make a prima facie showing that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law, we reverse *748and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Factual and Procedural Background
In 2012, the Taney County prosecutor filed class A misdemeanor criminal charges against the Smiths, alleging that they had violated the Taney County Development Guidance Code (Code) between March and August 2012 by operating a "nightly rental" without acquiring the proper special use permit. According to the County, the nightly rental regulation (Regulation) in § 4.7 of Appendix E to the Code was adopted by amendment on May 29, 2009 (Amendment). The Regulation made the lease of a home for a term less than 30 days different from an ordinary residential use, requiring a "Division III 'Special Use' permit" from the Taney County Planning Commission (the Commission).
Thereafter, the Smiths filed a two-count declaratory judgment action challenging the validity of the Code (Count 1) and the Amendment (Count 2).
1. With respect to the Code, the County failed to satisfy "the required statutory prerequisites to adopting a master plan" by, inter alia , "holding a public hearing and providing sufficient public notice" as required by Chapter 64.
2. With respect to the Amendment, the County failed to: (a) "keep an accurate record of the orders, rules and proceedings of the county commission" pursuant to § 51.120; and (b) record "a 'yea' or 'nay' vote of each county commissioner [that] must appear in the minutes" showing a "favorable vote of two-thirds of all members of the county commission" as required by § 610.015 and § 64.875.2
These allegations were denied in the County's answer.
After extensive discovery, the Smiths filed a motion for summary judgment. Their motion, statements of uncontroverted material fact, and attachments (totaling over 2,500 pages) are contained in 23 volumes of the legal file in this appeal.
The County filed an initial motion for summary judgment, but it was withdrawn. Two days later, the County filed a one-page "Second Motion for Summary Judgment" (hereinafter referred to as the County's motion for summary judgment). The stated legal basis for the County's motion for summary judgment was that the Code "is presumed valid." The County's "Statement of Uncontroverted Material Fact" consisted of only one paragraph identifying an exhibit, Exhibit A, as "[a] copy of the present [Code]." The first page of the exhibit included a "Certificate of True Copy" signed by County Clerk Donna Neeley, stating:
I, Donna Neeley, County Clerk in and for said Taney County, do hereby certify that this is a copy of the Taney County Development Guidance Code dated of 13th of November 1984 with amendments dated September 8, 2008; November 30, 2009; January 1, 2011; March 15, 2012; May 21, 2012; July 19, 2012; February 11, 2013; March 21, 2013.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said County Clerk at my office in *749Forsyth, Missouri, the 21st day of January 2016.
Neely's Certificate does not identify any amendment to the Code occurring on May 29, 2009, which is the date the County alleged that the Amendment and Regulation were adopted.
The trial court granted the County's motion for summary judgment and denied the Smiths' motion for summary judgment. In the judgment, the trial court declared "that the Taney County Development Guidance Code was enacted validly by the Taney County Commission on November 13, 1984; and that the Nightly Rental regulation, Section 4.7 of the Taney County Development Guidance Code, was enacted validly by the Taney County Commission on May 29, 2009." This appeal followed.
Standard of Review
A summary judgment can only be granted if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Rule 74.04(c)(6); McLallen v. Tillman ,
"Our review is de novo using the same criteria the trial court should have employed without deference to that court's decision." Lackey v. Iberia R-V Sch. Dist. ,
"The language of Rule 74.04 establishes the boundaries of Missouri's summary judgment practice." ITT ,
The first inquiry is the identification of the movant and whether the movant is a "claimant," under Rule 74.04(a), or a "defending party" under Rule 74.04(b). Here, the County is the movant and the "defending party." See Meyers v. Kendrick ,
The second inquiry is whether the movant's motion for summary judgment properly pleads all of the elements as detailed in Rule 74.04(c)(1). See ITT ,
(1) facts that negate any one of the claimant's elements facts,
(2) that the non-movant, after an adequate period of discovery, has not been able to produce, and will not be able to produce, evidence sufficient to allow the trier of fact to find the existence of any one of the claimant's elements, or
(3) that there is no genuine dispute as to the existence of each of the facts necessary to support the movant's properly-pleaded affirmative defense.
ITT ,
The third and final inquiry occurs only after the movant has made "a prima facie showing that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law[.]" ITT ,
Discussion and Decision
To grant a declaratory judgment, a trial court must be presented with: (1) a justiciable controversy (i.e., a presently existing, real and substantial controversy admitting of specific relief), as distinguished from an advisory decree upon a purely hypothetical situation; (2) a plaintiff with a legally protectable interest at stake; (3) a controversy that is ripe for judicial determination; and (4) an inadequate remedy at law. Missouri Ass'n of Nurse Anesthetists, Inc. v. State Bd. of Registration for Healing Arts ,
As a preliminary matter, we must address whether the Smiths' controversy is ripe for judicial determination because they could raise the invalidity of the ordinance as a defense in any action brought to prosecute them for an alleged ordinance violation. See Alpert v. State ,
In the Smiths' single point, they contend the trial court erred by granting the County's motion for summary judgment. We agree. The Smiths' two-count *751petition for declaratory relief alleged that the Code and the Amendment were void and unenforceable because the County failed to: (1) satisfy "the required statutory prerequisites to adopting a master plan" such as "holding a public hearing and providing sufficient public notice" as required by Chapter 64; (2) "keep an accurate record of the orders, rules and proceedings of the county commission" pursuant to § 51.120; and (3) record "a 'yea' or 'nay' vote of each county commissioner [that] must appear in the minutes" showing "a favorable vote of two-thirds of all members of the county commission" as required by § 610.015 and § 64.875.
To establish a prima facie case for summary judgment, the County had to show the Smiths could not prevail on either count of the petition, via one of the three means available to a defending party. See Meyers ,
The County's motion for summary judgment did not establish a prima facie case for a defending party because it ignored the pleaded bases for relief in the two counts of the Smiths' petition.
The reason the County's motion for summary judgment failed to establish a prima facie case is apparent *752when we examine the stated legal basis for the motion-that the Code "is presumed valid." According to the County, that evidentiary presumption means the mere exhibition of the Code and Amendment is sufficient to defeat all pleaded theories of recovery in the Smiths' petition. That is incorrect. A review of the Code and Amendment sheds no light whatsoever on whether proper statutory procedures were followed in the enactment of either of them. We recognize that ordinances are presumed valid, but this presumption is rebuttable. Dallen v. City of Kansas City ,
In sum, the County's motion for summary judgment failed to establish a prima facie case for summary judgment, as required by Rule 74.04(c)(1). Noncompliance with that rule warrants reversal of a trial court's grant of summary judgment. Hargis v. JLB Corp. ,
The Smiths also request that we review the denial of their motion for summary judgment on the ground that the "merits are completely intertwined with a grant of summary judgment to the opposing party." See Dhyne v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. ,
The County's motion for summary judgment was defective because it was based upon an incorrect legal premise and an inadequate factual foundation. That motion has virtually nothing in common with the Smiths' motion for summary judgment, which hypothesized hundreds of material facts and spans 23 volumes of the legal file in this case. Given the very narrow basis for our reversal of the judgment, this is not a case in which the parties' competing motions for summary judgment are completely intertwined. See Keystone Mut. Ins. Co. v. Kuntz ,
The trial court's grant of summary judgment to the County is reversed. The cause is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
DON E. BURRELL, J.-CONCUR
MARY W. SHEFFIELD, C.J.-CONCUR
Following the filing of the declaratory judgment action, the Taney County prosecutor dismissed the charges against the Smiths without prejudice.
All statutory references are to RSMo (2000). All rule references are to Missouri Court Rules (2017).
Because the County did not make a prima facie case for summary judgment, our decision to reverse need not rest upon the Smiths' response to the County's motion for summary judgment. Relying on discovery responses and other evidence in the case, the Smiths took the position in their response that Exhibit A is not an authentic copy of the Code because: (1) the Code document itself was missing for a number of years; (2) the text of several amendments was also missing, but is now included in the "present" Code; and (3) as noted previously, Neely's Certificate makes no reference to any May 29, 2009 amendment of the Code. On remand, the court will have a chance to consider the Smiths' assertion that there is a genuine issue of material fact about whether Exhibit A is a true and correct copy of the Code and the Amendment.
For example, one allegation in the Smiths' petition is that the Amendment did not receive the favorable vote of two-thirds of the Commission. If proven, that would show the Amendment was not validly enacted. See, e.g. , Braddy v. Zych ,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.