News Editor Lafayette County Commissioners are beginning preliminary work and getting questions answered from the State Auditor’s office as they prepare to navigate the changes of being reclassified as a third-class county, Southern Commissioner Michael Brown remarked in a recent Facebook post.

Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick recently issued notifications to three local counties for reclassification. Pettis, Saline, and Lafayette counties are slated to be reclassified from fourth-class counties to thirdclass counties.

Lafayette County is set to become a third-class county on January 1, 2027.

The reclassifications for the counties are taking place due to assessed valuation falling below the threshold for five consecutive years.

All three counties have been fourth-class since 2021. Reclassification will take effect at the beginning of the county fiscal year following the next general election.

Lafayette County Clerk Jessica White said her office received the Notice of Classification Change on Monday, March 16.

White remarked, “There are a number of changes that will take place (as a result of the reclassification). At this time, County Counsel is preparing an administrative and financial impact summary statement for the County Commission to review. There will be more information available on this topic after that review takes place.”

In the notification, Fitzpatrick cited the Western District of Missouri Court of Appeals’ decision in March 2025 in favor of Saline County Assessor Jessica Goodman against the Saline County Commission, which concluded that fourth-class counties were not perpetually exempt from reclassification.

Saline County’s reclassification is still pending litigation related to the ongoing court case between Goodman and the Saline County Commission.

Goodman filed the lawsuit in October 2022 claiming that because Saline County is a fourth-class county, her office should receive one percent of property tax collections instead of half of one percent. She also claimed that Saline County should be deemed a third-class county. A motion by Lafayette County to intervene in that case was denied on March 3.