[1]
State Law Reference: As to certain violations concerning an
accused with special needs, § 479.040, RSMo.
There is hereby established in the City of Wright City a Municipal
Court to be known as the "Wright City Municipal Court, a Division
of the 12th 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. The term "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.
The Judge of the City's Municipal Court shall be known as a
Municipal Judge of the 12th 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 Board of Aldermen for a term as specified herein.
[R.O. 1992 § 110.300; Ord. No.
511 § 1, 1-27-2005]
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. The term shall commence
on the first day of May 2005 and in each odd numbered year thereafter.
A.
The Municipal Judge shall vacate his/her office under the following
conditions:
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.
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.
[Ord. No. 1026, 6-23-2022]
The Municipal Judge shall cause the Court Clerk to prepare,
within the first fifteen (15) days of every month, a copy of the monthly
case load summary report for the proceeding month required by Court
Operating Rule 4.28, as amended.
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 Warren 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.
B.
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 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.
The City Chief of Police or other Police Officer of the City
shall, 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.
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 ordinance violations 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.
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.
[Ord. No. 1026, 6-23-2022]
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
If the Municipal Judge or Provisional 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.
[R.O. 1992 § 110.370; Ord. No. 511 §1, 1-27-2005; Ord. No. 838 § III, 11-13-2014]
A.
There shall be the office of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City
of Wright City. The Prosecuting Attorney shall serve at the pleasure
of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen. He/she shall be appointed by the
Mayor with the consent and approval of the Board of Aldermen. Before
assuming the duties of his/her office, the Prosecuting Attorney shall
take the oath of office required of other City officials. He/she shall
be a duly licensed attorney of the State of Missouri and shall receive
such compensation as may be fixed by ordinance from time to time.
B.
The Prosecuting Attorney shall have the power and be required to
represent the City in all cases before the Municipal Court and any
such actions appealed or certified to the Circuit Court.
C.
The Board of Aldermen shall provide by resolution for such Assistant
Prosecuting Attorney(s) as it may deem necessary, who shall be appointed
the Mayor with the consent and approval of the Board of Aldermen.
The Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, in his/her official duties and
when authorized by resolution, may exercise any of the powers of the
Prosecuting Attorney under his/her direction.
[R.O. 1992 § 215.365; Ord. No.
527 § I, 4-28-2005; Ord. No. 845 § II, 3-12-2015; Ord. No. 903, 12-29-2016]
A.
A person commits the offense of failure to appear in Municipal Court if, for any violation of any ordinance of the City of Wright City that is not a minor traffic violation as defined by Section 100.080 of the Municipal Code, he/she:
1.
Has been issued a summons for a violation 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.
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.
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.
