There is hereby established in the City of Kearney a Municipal
Court to be known as the "Kearney Municipal Court, a Division of the
7th 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 7th 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.
[Ord. No. 344 §2(4), 12-4-1978; Ord. No. 552-91 §1, 6-17-1991]
The Municipal Judge shall hold his/her office for a period of
two (2) years. He/she shall be appointed by the Mayor subject to confirmation
by the Board of Aldermen at the first (1st) meeting of the Board in
July of alternating years. If for any reason a Municipal Judge vacates
his/her office, the successor shall complete that term of office even
if the same be for less than two (2) years.
[Ord. No. 344 §2(5), 12-4-1978]
A.
The
Municipal Judge shall vacate his/her office under the following conditions:
[Ord. No. 344 §2(6), 12-4-1978]
A.
The
Municipal Judge shall possess the following qualifications before
he/she shall take office:
1.
He/she shall 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 Municipal Judge for any other municipality.
6.
He/she may not hold any other office within the City Government.
7.
The Municipal Judge shall be considered holding a part-time position
and as such may accept (within the requirements of the Code of Judicial
Conduct, Missouri Supreme Court Rule 2) 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.
[Ord. No. 1532-2023, 8-7-2023]
The Municipal Judge shall cause a report to the Board of Aldermen
to be prepared and provided by the fifteenth (15th) day of the month
in accordance with applicable law. The report required by this Section
shall be the same as any report the Municipal Court is required by
law to submit to any agency, branch or division of the State of Missouri.
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 Clay 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.
[Ord. No. 344 §2(10), 12-4-1978]
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.
Commute the term of any sentence, 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. Any and all
rules made or adopted hereunder may be annulled or amended by any
ordinance limited to such purposes, provided that such ordinance does
not violate, or conflict with, the provisions of the Missouri Rules
of Practice and Procedure in Municipal and Traffic Courts or State
Statutes.
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 Kearney shall be paid a
sum as fixed by ordinance from time to time.
[Ord. No. 344 §2(11), 12-4-1978]
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. The City Clerk is hereby designated as the Violations
Clerk for said Bureau, if established.
[Ord. No. 1532-2023, 8-7-2023]
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.
[Ord. No. 1532-2023, 8-7-2023]
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.
[Ord. No. 1532-2023, 8-7-2023]
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.
[Ord. No. 1532-2023, 8-7-2023]
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 ordinance violation, 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.
[Ord. No. 1532-2023, 8-7-2023]
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.
[Ord. No. 1532-2023, 8-7-2023]
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.
[Ord. No. 1532-2023, 8-7-2023]
If a Municipal Judge be absent, sick or disqualified from acting
or otherwise unable to act, the Mayor, if circumstances exist making
it impossible to reach the Presiding Judge of the necessary Circuit
Court, may designate some competent, eligible person to act as Municipal
Judge until the Presiding Judge of the Circuit, in conformance with
applicable law, can designate a special Municipal Judge. Said person’s
compensation shall be set by ordinance. All other appointments necessary
due to the absence, recusal or another inability to act of the Municipal
or temporary Municipal Judges shall be made by the Presiding Judge
of the appropriate Circuit Court.
[Ord. No. 659-95 §§1 —
4, 3-20-1995; Ord. No. 1532-2023, 8-7-2023]
A.
No
person shall knowingly fail to appear in Court at the place and time
specified in any written promise to appear in Court, or appear being
summoned or otherwise formally notified to appear in Court.
B.
A warrant may be issued to arrest any individual who fails to appear in Court as described in Subsection (A) pursuant to the applicable procedures of this Code, including, but not limited to, Section 130.100(A)(2), and in accordance with Missouri law.
C.
Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prevent the Court from exercising its power to punish for contempt pursuant to Section 130.100(A)(2).
