[R.O. 2012 §135.110; CC 1992 §18-7; Ord. No. 1537 §2, 12-4-1978]
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 general administrative
authority of the Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court, and the Judge
and Court personnel of the Court shall obey his/her directives.
[R.O. 2012 §135.120; CC 1992 §18-8; Ord. No. 1537 §2, 12-4-1978]
The Municipal Judge shall cause to be prepared within the first
(1st) ten (10) days of every month a report indicating the following:
a list of all cases heard and tried before the Court during the preceding
month, giving in each case the name of the defendant, the fine imposed,
if any, the amount of cost, the names of the defendants committed
and the cases where there was an application for trial de novo, respectively.
The list shall be prepared under oath by the Municipal Court Clerk
or the Municipal Judge. This report will be filed with the City Clerk,
who shall thereafter forward the report to the Board of Aldermen of
the City for examination at its first (1st) session thereafter. The
Municipal Court shall, within ten (10) days after the first (1st)
of the month, pay to the City Collector the full amount of all fines
collected during the preceding months, if they have not previously
been paid.
[R.O. 2012 §135.130; CC 1992 §18-9; Ord. No. 1537 §2, 12-4-1978]
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 the County. The Municipal Judge
shall deliver the docket and records of the Municipal Court, 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. 2012 §135.140; CC 1992 §18-12; Ord. No. 1537 §2, 12-4-1978]
All warrants issued by a Municipal Judge shall be directed to
the Chief of Police or any other Police Officer of the City, or to
the Sheriff of the County. The warrant shall be executed by the Chief
of Police, Police Officer or Sheriff 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,
the warrants shall be served in other Counties as provided for in
warrants in criminal cases.
[R.O. 2012 §135.160; CC 1992 §18-14; Ord. No. 1537 §2, 12-4-1978]
Any person charged with a violation of a municipal ordinance
of the City shall be entitled to a trial by jury, as in prosecutions
for misdemeanors before an Associate Circuit Judge. Whenever a defendant
accused of a violation of a municipal ordinance demands trial by jury,
the Municipal Court shall certify the case to the Presiding Judge
of the Circuit Court for reassignment.
[R.O. 2012 §135.170; CC 1992 §18-15; Ord. No. 1537 §2, 12-4-1978]
It shall be the duty of an attorney designated by the municipality
to prosecute the violations of the City's ordinances before the Municipal
Judge or before any Associate Circuit Judge or 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 result in any case.
[R.O. 2012 §135.180; CC 1992 §18-16; Ord. No. 1537 §2, 12-4-1978]
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 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. 2012 §135.190; CC 1992 §18-17; Ord. No. 1537 §2, 12-4-1978]
A.
If,
in the progress of any trial before a 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 Judge within 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
577.023, RSMo., or has had two (2) or more previous alcohol-related
enforcement contacts as defined in Section 302.525, RSMo.
[R.O. 2012 §135.200; CC 1992 §18-18; Ord. No. 1537 §2, 12-4-1978]
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 City shall
pay the board of such prisoner at the same rate as may now or hereafter
be allowed to such Sheriff for the keeping of such prisoner in his/her
custody. The board shall be taxed as costs to be paid by the defendant.
[R.O. 2012 §135.210]
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. 2012 §135.220]
In any case tried before a Municipal Judge who is licensed to
practice law in this State or before an Associate Circuit Judge, except
where there has been a plea of guilty or the case has been tried with
a jury, the defendant shall have a right of trial de novo before a
Circuit Judge or upon assignment before an Associate Circuit 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. 2012 §135.230; CC 1992 §18-21; Ord. No. 1537 §2, 12-4-1978]
In all cases in which a jury trial has been demanded by a defendant
before the Municipal Court, a record of the proceedings shall be made
and appeals may be had upon that record to the appropriate Appellate
Court.
[R.O. 2012 §135.240; CC 1992 §18-22; Ord. No. 1537 §2, 12-4-1978]
In the case of a breach of any recognizance entered into before
the Municipal Judge or an Associate Circuit Judge hearing a municipal
ordinance violation case, the recognizance shall be deemed forfeited
and the Judge shall cause the matter to be prosecuted against the
principal and surety, or either of them, in the name of the City as
plaintiff. Such action shall be prosecuted before a Circuit Judge
or Associate Circuit Judge, and, in the event of cases caused to be
prosecuted by the 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 the City Treasury to the General
Revenue Fund of the City.
[R.O. 2012 §135.250; CC 1992 §18-23; Ord. No. 1537 §2, 12-4-1978]
The 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 City, 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 City shall be entitled to file
more than one (1) affidavit or disqualification in the same case.
