[Code 1974 §160.100; CC 1984 §9-41]
All warrants issued by a Municipal Judge shall be directed to
the Chief of Police or any other Police Officer or to the Sheriff
of the County. The warrants 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, shall be served
in other Counties, as provided for in warrants of criminal cases.
[Code 1974 §160.110; CC 1984 §9-42]
The Chief of Police or other Police Officer shall, without a warrant, make arrest of any person who commits an ordinance violation in his/her presence or out of his/her presence, subject to the provisions of Section
200.130, but any such officer shall, before the trial, file a written complaint with the Judge hearing violations of municipal ordinances.
[Code 1974 §160.130; CC 1984 §9-43]
It shall be the duty of a City Attorney to prosecute the violations
of this Code and other City ordinances before the Municipal Judge
or before any Circuit Judge hearing violations thereof. The salary
or fees of the attorney and his/her necessary expenses incurred in
any such prosecution shall be paid by the City. The compensation of
such attorney shall not be contingent upon the result in any case.
[CC 1984 §9-44]
In any trial for the violation of this Code or any other City
ordinance, all issues of fact shall be tried by the Municipal Judge
except where trial by jury is authorized by law and the defendant
or his/her attorney requests a trial by jury.
[Code 1974 §160.120; CC 1984 §9-45]
Any person charged with a violation of this Code or any other
City ordinance shall be entitled to a trial by jury, as in prosecutions
for misdemeanors before an Associate Circuit Judge. When a defendant
demands a trial by jury, the Municipal Court shall certify the case
to the Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court for reassignment.
[Code 1974 §160.140; CC 1984 §9-46]
A. It
shall be the duty of the Municipal Judge to summons 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
of the case.
B. 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 any 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 thereof on his/her docket,
which oral notice shall be valid as a summons.
[CC 1984 §9-47; Ord. No. 1-107C §1, 7-16-1979; Ord. No. 8-18 §1, 11-23-2015]
Any person who, having been released upon a recognizance or
bond pursuant to any other provisions of law while pending preliminary
hearing, trial, sentencing, appeal, probation or parole revocation,
or any other stage of a criminal matter against him or her, knowingly
fails to appear before any court or judicial officer as required shall
be guilty of the crime of failure to appear. No additional charge
shall be issued for the failure to appear for a minor traffic violation.
[Code 1974 §160.150; CC 1984 §9-48]
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 ordinance violation 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 a complaint to be made before some Associate Circuit
Judge within the County.
[Code 1974 §160.160; CC 1984 §9-49]
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
the prisoner until discharged by due process of law. The City shall
pay the board of any such prisoner at the same rate as may now or
hereafter be allowed to the Sheriff for the keeping of the prisoner
in his/her custody. These expenses shall be taxed as costs.
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.
[Code 1974 §160.180; CC 1984 §9-51]
In all cases tried before the Municipal Court, 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 Judge or on assignment before an Associate Circuit Judge.
Application for 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 rules.
[Code 1974 §160.190; CC 1984 §9-52]
In all cases in which a jury trial has been demanded, a record
of proceedings shall be made, and appeals may be had upon that record
to the appropriate Appellate Court.
[Code 1974 §160.200; CC 1984 §9-53]
In the case of a breach of any recognizance entered into before
the Municipal Judge, 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 City as plaintiff. The 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.
[Ord. No. 1-107-I §§1
— 2, 2-17-1997]
A. The
Municipal Court Judge for the City of Farmington shall have the power
to suspend imposition of sentence with or without placing the defendant
on probation on any case that the Judge at his/her discretion believes
is the most appropriate and the proper remedy to be afforded at the
time of a plea of guilty or a finding of guilt on any ordinance violation
charge committed within the City of Farmington in violation of the
City of Farmington Code and ordinances. By suspending imposition of
sentencing, no conviction has been entered and is not to be reported
to the Department of Revenue or to any other authority for the assessment
of points or of being part of their record of arrest for that person.
The suspend imposition of sentencing shall be controlled by the Missouri
State Statutes that provide for it and the Supreme Court Rules.
B. Any
person convicted of an ordinance violation, and upon said person executing
a release indicating that said person waives his/her right to an attorney,
may choose to serve a period of time in the County Jail in lieu of
the payment of fine and cost.
[Code 1974 §160.210; CC 1984 §9-54]
The Municipal Judge shall be disqualified to hear any case in
which he/she is in anywise 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 of disqualification in the same case.
[Code 1974 §160.220; CC 1984 §9-55]
If the Municipal Judge be absent, sick or disqualified from
acting, the Mayor may designate some competent, eligible person to
act as Municipal Judge until such absence or disqualification shall
cease. The City Council shall provide by ordinance for the compensation
of any person designated to act as a Municipal Judge under the provisions
of this Section.