[R.O. 2008 § 130.010]
There is hereby established in the
City of O'Fallon a Municipal Court to be known as the "O'Fallon Municipal
Court, a Division of the 11th 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."
[R.O. 2008 § 130.020]
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.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.030]
The Judge of the City's Municipal
Court shall be known as a Municipal Judge of the 11th Judicial Circuit
Court and shall be selected by appointment to the position by the
Mayor with approval of a majority of the members of the City Council
for a term as specified herein.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.040]
The Municipal Judge shall hold his/her
office for a period of at least two (2) years. If for any reason a
Municipal Judge vacates his/her office, his/her successor shall complete
that term of office, even if the same be for less than two (2) years.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.050]
A.
The Municipal Judge shall vacate his/her
office under the following conditions:
[R.O. 2008 § 130.060]
A.
The Municipal Judge shall possess the following
qualifications before he/she shall take office:
1.
He/she must be a licensed attorney,
qualified to practice law within the State of Missouri.
2.
He/she need not reside within the
City.
3.
He/she must be a resident of the
State of Missouri.
4.
He/she must be between the ages of
twenty-one (21) and seventy-five (75) years.
5.
He/she may serve as a Municipal Judge
for any other municipality.
6.
He/she may not hold any other office
within the City Government.
B.
The
Municipal Judge shall be considered holding a part-time position and
as such may accept other employment.
C.
No Municipal Judge shall serve as a Municipal Judge in more than
five (5) municipalities at one (1) time. A Court that serves more
than one (1) municipality shall be treated as a single municipality
for the purposes of this Subsection.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.070]
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.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.080; Ord. No. 5728 § 1, 9-8-2011; Ord. No. 5728A § 1, 9-8-2011]
The Municipal Judge shall cause the
Court Administrator, within the first ten (10) days of every month,
to pay to the Municipal Treasurer the full amount of all fines and
costs collected during the preceding month, if not previously paid
to the Municipal Treasurer.
[1]
Editor's Note: Ord. No. 5728A, adopted September
8, 2011, repealed Section 130.080, Report To City Council, in its
entirety and enacted new provisions set out herein.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.090]
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. Charles 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.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.100]
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.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.110]
The Municipal Judge for the City
of O'Fallon shall be paid a sum as fixed by ordinance from time to
time.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.115]
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.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.120]
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.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.130; R.O. 2007
§ 370.010]
A.
Any person charged with an offense for
which payment of a fine may be made to the Violations Bureau shall
have the option of paying such fine within the time specified in the
notice of arrest at the Violations Bureau upon entering a plea of
guilty and upon waiving appearance in court; or may have the option
of depositing required lawful bail, and upon a plea of not guilty
shall be entitled to a trial as authorized by law.
B.
The payment of a fine to the Bureau shall
be deemed an acknowledgement of conviction of the alleged offense,
and the Bureau, upon accepting the prescribed fine, shall issue a
receipt to the violator acknowledging payment thereof.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.140; R.O. 2007
§ 370.020]
A.
The following duties are hereby imposed
upon the Violations Bureau in reference to traffic offenses:
1.
It shall accept designated fines,
issue receipts, and represent in court such violators as are permitted
and desire to plead guilty, waive court appearance, and give power
of attorney;
2.
It shall receive and issue receipts
for cash bail from the persons who must or wish to be heard in court,
enter the time of their appearance on the court docket, and notify
the arresting Officer and witnesses, if any, to be present.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.150]
All warrants issued by a Municipal
Judge shall be directed to the 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 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.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.160]
The Chief of Police or other Police
Officer of the City may, without a warrant, make arrest of any person
who commits an offense in his/her presence, but such officer shall,
before the trial, file a written complaint with the Judge hearing
violations of municipal ordinances.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.170]
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.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.180]
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.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.190]
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.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.200]
A.
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.
B.
For
purposes of this Section, any offense involving the operation of a
motor vehicle in an intoxicated condition as defined in Section 577.001,
RSMo., shall not be cognizable in Municipal Court, if the defendant
has been convicted, found guilty, or pled guilty to two (2) or more
previous intoxication-related traffic offenses as defined in Section
577.001, RSMo., or has had two (2) or more previous alcohol-related
enforcement contacts as defined in Section 302.525, RSMo.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.210]
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.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.220]
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:
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.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.230]
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.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.240]
In any case tried with a jury before
an Associate Circuit Judge, a record of the proceedings shall be made,
and appeals may be had upon that record to the appropriate Appellate
Court.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.250]
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.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.260]
A Municipal Judge shall be disqualified
to hear any case in which he/she is in any way interested or, if before
the trial is commenced, the defendant or the prosecutor files an affidavit
that the defendant or the municipality, as the case may be, cannot
have a fair and impartial trial by reason of the interest or prejudice
of the Judge. Neither the defendant nor the municipality shall be
entitled to file more than one (1) affidavit or disqualification in
the same case.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.270]
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 478.230, RSMo., until such absence or disqualification
shall cease.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.280; Ord. No. 6796, § 1, 7-8-2021]
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 O'Fallon 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.
Nothing in this Section shall prevent the
exercise of the Municipal Court of its power to punish for contempt.
C.
This Section shall not apply to any "minor traffic violation." For
purposes of this Section, "minor traffic violation" shall mean any
violations of a municipal ordinance:
1.
For which the Missouri Department of Revenue is authorized to assess
no more than four (4) points to a person's driving record upon conviction;
and
[R.O. 2008 § 130.290]
A.
There is hereby established the office
of Court Administrator for the City of O'Fallon Municipal Division
of the St. Charles County Circuit Court.
B.
The Supreme Court Rules in Section 37.06
define "Clerk" as any duly appointed Court Clerk or Court Administrator
or any Deputy or Division Court Clerk serving courts to which Rule
37 applies.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.300]
Within fifteen (15) days after appointment
and before entering upon the discharge of the above-described duties
of office, the Court Administrator shall give bond to the City in
an amount approved by the City Administrator conditioned upon the
faithful performance of said duties and the said Court Administrator
will pay over all monies belonging to the City, as provided by law,
that may come into the Court Administrator's hands.
[R.O. 2008 § 130.310; R.O. 2007
§ 130.200; Ord. No. 1184 § 53, 1-17-1985]
A.
Any person appearing before the Municipal
Court of the City of O'Fallon, which is a Division of the Circuit
Court of St. Charles County, shall be subject to punishment for contempt
of Court for any of the following acts constituting contempt:
1.
Disorderly or insolent behavior committed
during its session in its immediate view and presence, and directly
tending to interrupt its proceeding, or to impair the respect due
its authority.
2.
Any breach of peace, noise or other
disturbance directly tending to interrupt its proceedings.
3.
Willful disobedience or resistance
of any process or order lawfully issued or made by it.
4.
Failure to appear or failure to satisfy
Court judgment. Contempt committed in the immediate view and presence
of the Court may be punished summarily; in other cases the party charged
shall be notified of the accusation and have a reasonable time to
make his/her defense.
