Respondent
The Franklin County Board of Commissioners petitioned the Judicial Finance Commission (JFC) to determine if a statutory "Maintenance of Effort" (MOE) capped its funding obligation for the Twentieth Judicial Circuit Court's juvenile division. The JFC dismissed the petition, finding it did not challenge specific budget items as unreasonable. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the JFC's dismissal, holding that the MOE is a minimum funding requirement, not a cap, and that the JFC properly dismissed the petition for lack of specificity and did not abuse its discretion in denying leave to amend.