There is hereby established in the City of Clayton a Municipal Court to be known as the "Clayton Municipal Court, a Division of the 21st Judicial Circuit Court of the State of Missouri". In the event a Police Court existed prior to the establishment of a Municipal Court, this Court is a continuation of the Police Court of the City as previously established and is termed herein "The Municipal Court".
Violations of municipal ordinances shall be heard and determined only before divisions of the Circuit Court as hereinafter provided in this Chapter. "Heard and determined", for purposes of this Chapter, shall mean any process under which the court in question retains the final authority to make factual determinations pertaining to allegations of a municipal ordinance violation.
A. 
The Municipal Judge shall vacate his/her office under the following conditions:
1. 
Upon removal from office by the State Commission on the Retirement, Removal and Discipline of Judges as provided in Missouri Supreme Court Rule 12;
2. 
Upon attaining his/her seventy-fifth (75th) birthday; or
3. 
If he/she should lose his/her license to practice law within the State of Missouri.
The Municipal Court of the City shall be subject to the rules of the Circuit Court of which it is a part and to the rules of the State Supreme Court. The Municipal Court shall be subject to the general administrative authority of the Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court, and the Judge and Court personnel of said Court shall obey his/her directives.
The Municipal Judge shall be a conservator of the peace. He/she shall keep a docket in which he/she shall enter every case commenced before him/her and the proceedings therein and he/she shall keep such other records as may be required. Such docket and records shall be records of the Circuit Court of St. Louis County. The Municipal Judge shall deliver said docket, records and all books and papers pertaining to his/her office to his/her successor in office or to the Presiding Judge of the Circuit.
A. 
The Municipal Judge shall be and is hereby authorized to:
1. 
Establish a Violations Bureau as provided for in the Missouri Rules of Practice and Procedure in Municipal and Traffic Courts and Section 479.050, RSMo.
2. 
Administer oaths and enforce due obedience to all orders, rules and judgments made by him/her and may fine and imprison for contempt committed before him/her while holding Court in the same manner and to the same extent as a Circuit Judge.
3. 
Stay execution of any fine or sentence, suspend any fine or sentence, and make such other orders as the Municipal Judge deems necessary relative to any matter that may be pending in the Municipal Court.
4. 
Make and adopt such rules of practice and procedure as are necessary to implement and carry out the provisions of this Chapter, and to make and adopt such rules of practice and procedure as are necessary to hear and decide matters pending before the Municipal Court, and to implement and carry out the provisions of the Missouri Rules of Practice and Procedure in Municipal and Traffic Courts.
5. 
The Municipal Judge shall have such other powers, duties and privileges as are or may be prescribed by the laws of this State, this Code or other ordinances of this City.
All prosecutions for the violation of municipal ordinances shall be instituted by information and may be based upon a complaint. Proceedings shall be in accordance with the supreme court rules governing practice and procedure in proceedings before Municipal Judges.
Should the Municipal Judge determine that there shall be a Violations Bureau, the City shall provide all expenses incident to the operation of the same.
All warrants issued by a Municipal Judge shall be directed to the City Marshal, Chief of Police or any other Police Officer of the municipality or to the Sheriff of the County. The warrants shall be executed by the Marshal, Chief of Police, Police Officer or Sheriff at any place within the limits of the County and not elsewhere, unless the warrants are endorsed in the manner provided for warrants in criminal cases and, when so endorsed, shall be served in other Counties as provided for in warrants in criminal cases.
Any person charged with a violation of a municipal ordinance of this City shall be entitled to a trial by jury as in prosecutions for misdemeanors before an Associate Circuit Court Judge. Whenever a defendant accused of a violation of a municipal ordinance has a right to and demands such trial by jury, the Municipal Court shall certify the case to the Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court for reassignment.
It shall be the duty of an attorney designated by the City to prosecute the violations of the City's ordinances before the Municipal Judge or before any Circuit Judge hearing violations of the City's ordinances. The salary or fees of the attorney and his/her necessary expenses incurred in such prosecutions shall be paid by the City. The compensation of such attorney shall not be contingent upon the number of cases tried, the number of guilty verdicts reached, or the amount of fines imposed or collected.
It shall be the duty of the Municipal Judge to summon all persons whose testimony may be deemed essential as witnesses at the trial and to enforce their attendance by attachment, if necessary. The fees of witnesses shall be the same as those fixed for witnesses in trials before Associate Circuit Court Judges and shall be taxed as other costs in the case. When a trial shall be continued by a Municipal Judge, it shall not be necessary to summon any witnesses who may be present at the continuance, but the Municipal Judge shall orally notify such witnesses as either party may require to attend before him/her on the day set for trial to testify in the case and enter the names of such witnesses on his/her docket, which oral notice shall be valid as a summons.
If, in the progress of any trial before the Municipal Judge, it shall appear to the Judge that the accused ought to be put upon trial for an offense against the criminal laws of the State and not cognizable before him/her as Municipal Judge, he/she shall immediately stop all further proceedings before him/her as Municipal Judge and cause the complaint to be made before some Associate Circuit Court Judge of the County.
If, in the opinion of the Municipal Judge, the City has no suitable and safe place of confinement, the Municipal Judge may commit the defendant to the County Jail, and it shall be the duty of the Sheriff, if space for the prisoner is available in the County Jail, upon receipt of a warrant of commitment from the Judge to receive and safely keep such prisoner until discharged by due process of law. The municipality shall pay the board of such prisoner at the same rate as may now or hereafter be allowed by law to such Sheriff for the keeping of other prisoners in his/her custody. The same shall be taxed as cost.
A. 
Any Judge hearing violations of municipal ordinances may, when in his/her judgment it may seem advisable, grant a parole or probation to any person who shall plead guilty or who shall be convicted after a trial before such Judge. When a person is placed on probation, he/she shall be given a certificate explicitly stating the conditions on which he/she is being released.
B. 
In addition to such other authority as exists to order conditions of probation, the Court may order conditions which the Court believes will serve to compensate the victim of the crime, any dependent of the victim, or society in general. Such conditions may include, but need not be limited to:
1. 
Restitution to the victim or any dependent of the victim in an amount to be determined by the Judge; and
2. 
The performance of a designated amount of free work for a public or charitable purpose or purposes as determined by the Judge.
C. 
A person may refuse probation conditioned on the performance of free work. If he/she does so, the Court shall decide the extent or duration of sentence or other disposition to be imposed and render judgment accordingly. Any County, City, person, organization or agency or employee of a County, City, organization or agency charged with the supervision of such free work or who benefits from its performance shall be immune from any suit by the person placed on parole or probation or any person deriving a cause of action from him/her if such cause of action arises from such supervision of performance, except for intentional torts or gross negligence. The services performed by the probationer or parolee shall not be deemed employment within the meaning of the provisions of Chapter 288, RSMo.
D. 
The Court may modify or enlarge the conditions of probation at any time prior to the expiration or termination of the probation term.
In any case tried before the Municipal Judge, except where there has been a plea of guilty or where the case has been tried with a jury, the defendant shall have a right of trial de novo before a Circuit Court Judge or upon assignment before an Associate Circuit Court Judge. An application for a trial de novo shall be filed within ten (10) days after judgment and shall be filed in such form and perfected in such manner as provided by Supreme Court rule.
In the case of a breach of any recognizance entered into before a Municipal Judge or an Associate Circuit Court Judge hearing a municipal ordinance violation case, the same shall be deemed forfeited and the Judge shall cause the same to be prosecuted against the principal and surety, or either of them, in the name of the municipality as plaintiff. Such action shall be prosecuted before a Circuit Court Judge or Associate Circuit Court Judge, and in the event of cases caused to be prosecuted by a Municipal Judge, such shall be on the transcript of the proceedings before the Municipal Judge. All monies recovered in such actions shall be paid over to Municipal Treasury to the General Revenue Fund of the municipality.
If a Municipal Judge be absent, sick or disqualified from acting pursuant to the general administrative authority of the Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court over the Municipal Divisions within the circuit contained in Section 478.240, RSMo., a special Municipal Judge may be designated in accordance with the provisions of Section 479.230, RSMo., until such absence or disqualification shall cease.
[Ord. No. 6877, 3-26-2024]
A. 
A person commits the offense of failure to appear in Municipal Court if:
1. 
He/she has been issued a summons for a violation of any ordinance of the City of Clayton and fails to appear before the Judge of the Municipal Court at the time and on the date on which he/she was summoned, or at the time or on the date to which the case was continued;
2. 
He/she has been released upon recognition of bond and fails to appear before the Judge of the Municipal Court at the time and on the date on which he/she was summoned, or at the time or on the date to which the case was continued;
3. 
He/she has been placed on Court supervised probation and fails to appear before the Judge of the Municipal Court at the time specified by said Judge as a condition of the probation.
B. 
This Section does not apply to violations classified as "Minor Traffic Violations" or "Municipal Ordinance Violations" as defined in the Section 479.350, RSMo.
1. 
For the purposes of this Section, “Minor Traffic Violations” are:
a. 
A traffic ordinance violation that does not involve an accident or injury; or
b. 
A traffic ordinance violation that does not involve the operation of a commercial motor vehicle; or
c. 
A traffic ordinance violation for which no points are assessed by the Department of Revenue; or
d. 
A traffic ordinance violation for which the Department of Revenue is authorized to assess one (1) to four (4) points to a person's driving record upon conviction; or
e. 
A traffic ordinance violation for exceeding the speed limit by less than twenty (20) miles per hour.
2. 
For the purposes of this Section, the following charges are classified as "Municipal Ordinance Violations":
a. 
Any ordinance violation prosecuted for which penalties are authorized by statute under Sections 64.160, 64.200, 64.295, 64.487, 64.690, 64.895, 67.398, 71.285, 89.120, and 89.490, RSMo.
b. 
More specifically, planning and zoning violations, dumping violations, property violations regarding debris and abatement, violations pertaining to weeds or trash and related abatement and/or building permit cases.
C. 
Under this Section, "Minor Traffic Violations" shall include amended charges for any "Minor Traffic Violations" and "Ordinance Violations" shall include amended charges for any "Ordinance Violations" as previously defined.
D. 
Nothing in this Section shall prevent the exercise of the Municipal Court from exercising its power to issue warrants pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 37.