There is hereby established in the City of Strafford a Municipal Court to be known as the "Strafford Municipal Court, a Division of the 31st 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".
The jurisdiction of the Municipal Court shall extend to all cases involving alleged violations of the ordinances of the City.
The Judge of the City's Municipal Court shall be known as a Municipal Judge of the 31st 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.
The Municipal Judge shall hold his/her office for a period of 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.
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.
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 may serve as a Municipal Judge for any other municipality.
5. 
He/she may not hold any other office within the City Government.
6. 
The Municipal Judge shall be considered holding a part-time position and as such may accept other employment.
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 cause the Court Clerk to prepare, within the first ten (10) days of every month, a report indicating the following:
A list of all cases heard or tried before the Judge during the preceding month, giving in each case the name of the defendant, the fine imposed if any, the amount of costs, the names of defendants committed, and the cases in which there was an application for trial de novo, respectively. The Court Clerk or the Judge shall verify such lists and statements by affidavit and shall file the same with the City Clerk who shall lay the same before the Board of Aldermen of the City for examination at its first (1st) session thereafter. The Municipal Court shall, within the ten (10) days after the first (1st) of the month, pay to the Municipal Treasurer the full amount of all fines collected during the preceding month, if not previously paid to the Municipal Treasurer.
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 Greene 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.
The Municipal Judge for the City of Strafford shall be paid a sum as fixed by ordinance from time to time.
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.
The City Marshal, 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.
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 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.
A. 
If a Municipal Judge be absent, sick or disqualified from acting, the Mayor of the Board of Aldermen may request the Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court to designate a special Municipal Judge as provided in Subsection (B) of this Section or the Mayor may designate some competent, eligible person to act as Municipal Judge until such absence or disqualification shall cease; provided however, that should a vacancy occur in the office of an elected Municipal Judge more than six (6) months before a general municipal election, then a special election shall be held to fill such vacancy; and in case of vacancy in the office of an elected Municipal Judge within less than six (6) months of a general municipal election, the office may be filled by a competent, eligible person designated by the Mayor of the Board of Aldermen or as provided in Subsection (B) of this Section.
B. 
The Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court may appoint any other Municipal Judge within the Circuit to act as a special Municipal Judge for a Municipal Judge of the Circuit who is absent, sick or disqualified from acting. The Presiding Judge shall act only upon request of the Mayor of the Board of Aldermen for a special Municipal Judge.
C. 
The Governing Body of the municipality shall provide by ordinance for the compensation of any person designated to act as Municipal Judge under the provisions of this Section.
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 Strafford 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.
[Ord. No. 616 §1, 12-1-2008; Ord. No. 777 §1, 9-6-2016]
A. 
Scope And Application Of Warrant. Upon application to the Strafford Municipal Court, and a showing of probable cause, the Court may approve the issuance of an administrative search warrant allowing inspection of private property in order to enforce the City's Code and in order to abate such conditions.
B. 
Application For Warrant.
1. 
Any individual responsible for enforcement of the City's Code provisions concerning property may motion the Court through the City Attorney for permission to enter said property in order to enforce the City's Codes and to abate conditions that are in violation of such Codes.
2. 
The warrant application shall:
a. 
Be in writing and filed with the Municipal Court.
b. 
Include a statement of probable cause, detailing the actual or suspected property conditions that justify entry.
c. 
Identify the property or place to be entered, searched, inspected, or seized so that it is of sufficient detail and particularity that the Court and any officer executing the warrant could readily ascertain it. The request shall include that said property is within the City limits.
d. 
Include the date and time that entry into said property was refused, and who was present when the refusal took place. If no responsible person could be located, the application must list all efforts made to request consent.
e. 
State specifically what sections of the City's Codes are believed to be violated by the property in question and are sought to be enforced.
f. 
Include copies of the Code in question.
g. 
State specifically the time and date requested to perform search, which shall be during daylight hours.
h. 
Be verified by oath or affirmation of the applicant, and be signed by the applicant and the City Attorney.
i. 
State the time and date of making the application.
j. 
State the facts sufficient to show probable cause for the issuance of an administrative search warrant in accordance with the procedure outlined in this Section to warrant:
(1) 
Search or inspection for violations of an ordinance or Code section specified in the application.
(2) 
Entry or seizure that is authorized and necessary to enforce the Code section specified in the application.
k. 
Where the application requests entry to seize property, such application shall also state facts sufficient to show that any required due process has been afforded prior to the entry or seizure.
l. 
Such application may also be supplemented by written affidavit.
C. 
Issuance Of Warrant - Hearing And Procedure.
1. 
The Municipal Judge shall hold a nonadversary hearing to determine whether probable cause exists to inspect or search for violations of any Codes, or to enforce any such Code.
2. 
In doing so, the Municipal Judge shall determine whether the action to be taken by the officer is reasonable in light of the facts stated. The Municipal Judge shall consider the goals of the ordinance or Code section sought to be enforced and such other factors as may be appropriate, including, but not limited to, the physical condition of the specified property, the age and nature of the property, the condition of the area in which the property is located, the known violation of any relevant ordinances or Code sections and the passage of time since the property's last inspection. The standard for issuing a warrant need not be limited to actual knowledge of an existing violation of an ordinance or Code section.
3. 
If it appears from the application and any supporting affidavit that there is probable cause to inspect or search for violations of any relevant Code section, or to enforce any such Code section, a search warrant shall immediately be issued.
4. 
The warrant shall issue in the form of an original and two copies. The application, any supporting affidavit, and one (1) copy of the administrative search warrant (as issued) shall be retained in the Municipal Court records.
D. 
Contents Of Warrant. The warrant shall:
1. 
Be in writing and in the name of the City.
2. 
Be directed to the police officer who will accompany and execute the warrant with the code official.
3. 
State the time and date that the warrant was issued.
4. 
Identify the location or property in sufficient detail and particularity that the officer executing the warrant can readily ascertain it.
5. 
Command that the described property or places be searched or entered upon, and that any evidence of any City Code violations found therein or thereon, or any property seized pursuant thereto, or a description of such property seized, be returned within ten (10) days after filing of the application to the Municipal Judge who issued the warrant, or his/her Municipal Court Clerk, so such evidence, property, or description of such property may be dealt with according to law.
6. 
Include the Code sought to be enforced along with a copy therewith. The warrant shall include a return and inventory form for the applicant to return to the court after the completion of the search.
7. 
Specify the service conditions of the warrant, including that service is to take place during daylight hours and within ten (10) days of application.
8. 
Be signed by the Municipal Judge, with his/her office title indicated.
E. 
Execution And Return.
1. 
The warrant shall be executed by a City police officer, to be accompanied by the applicant officer, upon the property in question as soon as practicable and in the most reasonable and practicable manner as possible.
2. 
A copy of the warrant shall be provided to the owner or occupant of the property entered, and, if no owner or occupant can be reached, the warrant shall be conspicuously placed upon the property in lieu of personal service.
3. 
If any property is seized incident to the entry, the officer shall prepare and give the person an itemized receipt for the property in question. If no such person is present, the receipt shall be left in a conspicuous place. Copies of this receipt shall be forwarded to the Court Clerk of the Municipal Court, as well as the City Attorney.
4. 
The disposition of property seized shall be in accordance with the provisions of this Section and taken as evidence. Such property shall be disposed of pursuant to § 542.301 RSMo. and relevant provisions of this Code.
5. 
The officer may summon as many persons as he deems necessary to assist in executing the warrant.
6. 
The warrant shall expire if not acted upon within ten (10) days of its application.
7. 
After execution, a return signed by the officer executing the warrant shall be delivered to the Municipal Court and shall include the following:
a. 
The time and place of execution, including upon whom service was made.
b. 
A report of the search and any seizure accompanying the warrant. This shall include an itemized receipt of any items seized, and copies of any photographs or recordings made.
c. 
The return shall be made immediately after the warrant execution.
d. 
The Court shall provide, upon written request made in person, a copy of the return to the owner of the property entered or seized.