[CC 1981 §120.010; Ord. No. 484 §1, 12-13-1978]
There is hereby established in this City a Municipal Court to
be known as the "Winchester Municipal Court, a Division of the 21st
Judicial Circuit Court of the State of Missouri". This Court is a
continuation of the Municipal Court of the City as previously established
and is termed herein "the Municipal Court".
[CC 1981 §120.020; Ord. No. 484 §2, 12-13-1978]
The jurisdiction of the Municipal Court shall extend to all
cases involving alleged violations of the ordinances of the City.
[CC 1981 §120.030; Ord. No. 229 §1, 7-27-1966]
The Municipal Court of the City of Winchester shall meet at
the City Hall of the City of Winchester at such time and on such date
as set and established by the Judge of the Municipal Court provided
that such time and date of each meeting shall be announced by the
Judge of the Municipal Court not less than ten (10) days prior to
such meeting and such announcement shall be made in open Court or
by written memorandum addressed to the Chief of Police of the City
of Winchester.
[CC 1981 §120.040; Ord. No. 484 §3, 12-13-1978]
The Judge of the City's Municipal Court shall be known as a
Municipal Judge of the 21st Judicial Circuit Court and shall be selected
as follows:
He/she shall be appointed to his/her position by the Mayor,
subject to the confirmation of the Board of Aldermen, for a term as
specified herein.
[CC 1981 §120.050; Ord. No. 484 §§4 — 6, 12-13-1978; Ord. No. 547 §1, 9-22-1982]
A.
Term. The Municipal Judge shall hold his/her office for
a period of two (2) years and shall take office bi-annually from first
(1st) day of September, 1980. 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.
B.
Vacation. The Municipal Judge shall vacate his/her office
under the following circumstances:
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, or
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.
C.
Qualifications. 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 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.
D.
Provisional Judge. The Provisional Judge shall be appointed
by the Mayor with the approval of the Board of Aldermen and his/her
term of office shall be for two (2) years. If the Municipal Judge
is absent, sick or disqualified from acting, the Provisional Judge
shall sit in his/her stead.
[CC 1981 §120.060; Ord. No. 484 §7, 12-13-1978]
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 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.
[CC 1981 §120.070; Ord. No. 484 §8, 12-13-1978]
The Municipal Judge shall cause to be prepared within the first
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 in the cases where there was an application for trial
de novo, respectively. The same 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 same to
the Mayor of the City for his/her 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 months, if they
have not previously been paid.
[CC 1981 §120.080; Ord. No. 484 §9, 12-13-1978]
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 of the Circuit Court of St. Louis 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.
[CC 1981 §120.090; Ord. No. 484 §10, 12-13-1978]
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 purpose; 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.
[CC 1981 §120.100; Ord. No. 484 §11, 12-13-1978]
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 Municipal Court Clerk or one designated by him/her
is hereby designated as the Violations Clerk for said Bureau, if established.
[CC 1981 §120.110; Ord. No. 484 §12, 12-13-1978]
All warrants issued by a Municipal Judge shall be directed to
the Chief of Police or any other Police Officer of the municipality
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, shall be served in other Counties as provided for in warrants
in criminal cases.
[CC 1981 §120.120; Ord. No. 484 §13, 12-13-1978]
The Chief of Police or other Police Officers of the City may,
without a warrant, make arrest of any person who commits offense in
his/her presence and such officer may also make an arrest on reasonable
grounds to believe an offense has been committed but such officer
shall before the trial file a written complaint with the Judge hearing
violations of municipal ordinances.
[CC 1981 §120.130; Ord. No. 484 §14, 12-13-1978]
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 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.
[CC 1981 §120.140; Ord. No. 432 §§1 — 2, 1-26-1977]
No person who has been lawfully summoned to appear in the Municipal
Court of the City of Winchester to answer lawful charges for violation
of any of the ordinances of the City shall fail to appear on the day
and at the hour to which such person has been summoned.
[CC 1981 §120.150; Ord. No. 484 §15, 12-13-1978]
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.
[CC 1981 §120.160; Ord. No. 484 §16, 12-13-1978]
If, in the progress of any trial before a Municipal Judge, it
shall appear to the Judge that the accused should 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.
[CC 1981 §120.170; Ord. No. 484 §17, 12-13-1978]
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 municipality
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 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:
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.
[CC 1981 §120.190; Ord. No. 484 §19, 12-13-1978]
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.
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 Rules.
[CC 1981 §120.200; Ord. No. 484 §20, 12-13-1978]
In all cases in which a jury trial has been demanded, a record
of the proceedings shall be made, and appeals may be had upon that
record to the appropriate Appellant Court.
[CC 1981 §120.210; Ord. No. 484 §21, 12-13-1978]
In the case of a breach of any recognizance entered into before
a Municipal Judge or an Associate Circuit 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 same name of the municipality
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 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 the municipal Treasury to the General
Revenue Fund of the municipality.
[CC 1981 §120.220; Ord. No. 484 §22, 12-13-1978]
A 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 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.
[CC 1981 §120.240; Ord. No. 484 §24, 12-13-1978]
A.
The
Mayor with the consent of the Board of Aldermen shall appoint a Clerk
of the Municipal Court. The duties of said Clerk shall be as follows:
1.
To collect such fines for violations of such offenses as may be described,
and the court costs thereof.
2.
To take oaths and affirmations.
3.
To accept signed complaints and allow the same to be signed and sworn
to or affirmed before him/her.
4.
Sign and issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses and
sign and issue subpoenas duces tecum.
5.
Accept the appearance, waiver of trial and plea of guilty and payment
of fine and costs in Violations Bureau cases or as directed by the
Municipal Judge; generally act as Violation Clerk of the Violation
Bureau.
6.
Perform all other duties as provided for by ordinance, by rules of
Practice and Procedure adopted by the Municipal Judge and by the Missouri
Rules of Practice and Procedure in Municipal and Traffic Courts and
by Statute.
7.
Maintain, properly certified, a complete copy of the Municipal Code
of the City of the municipality which shall constitute prima facie
evidence of such Code before the Court. Further, to maintain a similar
certified copy on file with the Clerk serving the Circuit Court of
this County.
[CC 1981 §120.250; Ord. No. 256 §2, 7-24-1968; Ord. No. 484 §25, 12-13-1978; Ord. No. 520 §1, 10-22-1980; Ord. No. 763 §2, 12-11-1996; Ord. No. 809 §1, 11-10-1999; Ord. No. 939 §§1
— 2, 1-10-2007]
A.
In
addition to any fine that may be imposed by the Municipal Judge in
any case filed in the Winchester Municipal Division of the 21st Judicial
Circuit Court, and in addition to all other fees authorized or required
by law, there shall be assessed as costs the following:
1.
Costs of Court in the amount of twelve dollars ($12.00).
2.
One dollar ($1.00) of each such Court cost shall be sent to the State
Treasury to the credit of the Peace Officers Standards and Training
Commission Fund created by Section 590.178, RSMo.
3.
Crime Victims' Compensation Fund. An additional sum of seven dollars fifty cents ($7.50) shall be assessed and added to the basic costs in Subsection (1) of this Section, provided that no such cost shall be collected in any proceeding when the proceeding or the defendant has been dismissed by the Court. All sums collected pursuant to this Subsection shall be paid at least monthly as follows:
4.
There may also be assessed a two dollar ($2.00) cost per case for
each criminal case and each County or municipal ordinance violation
case for the purpose of providing operating expenses for shelters
for battered persons as set out in Section 488.607, RSMo.
5.
Law Enforcement Training Fund surcharge. A surcharge
of two dollars ($2.00) may be collected as costs on municipal ordinance
violations, including non-moving traffic violations. All sums collected
pursuant to this Subsection shall be disbursed monthly to the City
Treasurer.
6.
Other costs, such as for the issuance of a warrant, a commitment
or a summons, as provided before the Associate Circuit Judge in criminal
prosecutions.
7.
Actual costs assessed against the City by St. Louis County for apprehension
or confinement in the County Jail.
8.
Any other reasonable cost as may be otherwise provided by ordinance including, but not limited to, costs of confinement, including any necessary transportation related thereto, medical costs incurred by the City while a defendant is in City custody, and costs related to the arrest and testing of any person for any intoxication-related traffic offense as set out in Subsection (9) hereof.
9.
Reimbursement of certain costs of arrest.
a.
Upon a plea or a finding of guilty of violating the provisions of Sections 342.020 or 342.030 of this Code or any ordinance of the City of Winchester involving alcohol- or drug-related traffic offenses, the Court may, in addition to imposition of any penalties provided by law, order the convicted person to reimburse the Police Department for the costs associated with such arrest.
b.
Such costs hereby authorized shall include the reasonable cost of
making the arrest, including the cost of any chemical test made as
authorized or required by law or ordinance to determine the alcohol
or drug content of the person's blood and the costs of processing,
charging, booking and holding such person in custody.
c.
The Municipal Judge shall establish a schedule of such costs hereby
authorized. However, the Court may order the costs reduced if it determines
that the costs are excessive.
10.
Highway worker protection. A person is deemed to
commit the offense "endangerment of a highway worker" upon conviction
of certain enumerated offenses where the offense is committed within
a "construction zone" as defined in Section 304.580, RSMo. "Endangerment"
offenses include exceeding the posted speed limit by fifteen (15)
miles per hour or more; certain passing violations; failure to stop
for a flagman or traffic control device; physically assaulting or
attempting or threatening to assault a highway worker with a motor
vehicle or other instrument; intentionally striking or moving work
zone barrels, signs or other such devices; and other offenses including
driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident as
specified in Sections 304.585.1 and 302.302.1, RSMo.
a.
Endangerment of a highway worker occurs when no injury or death results
to a highway worker.
11.
Cost for continuance.
a.
A defendant in the Municipal Court of the City of Winchester shall
have the right to one (1) continuance without additional Court costs.
b.
A "continuance by defendant" is defined as a continuance
requested by defendant or representative of the defendant.
c.
The Court costs provided for in this Subsection shall be assessed
against any defendant found guilty in any complaint made in the Municipal
Court of the City of Winchester.
12.
State Court Automation Fund: seven dollars ($7.00).
[Ord. No. 1034 §1, 9-10-2014]
13.
Convenience fee for accepting payments of Court costs by means
other than by cash or negotiable instrument shall be four dollars
($4.00).
[Ord. No. 1081, 6-12-2019]
[CC 1981 §120.260; Ord. No. 484 §26, 12-13-1978]
The cost of any action may be assessed against the prosecuting
witness and judgments be rendered against him/her that he/she pay
the same and stand committed until paid in any case where it appears
to the satisfaction of the Municipal Judge that the prosecution was
commenced without probable cause and from malicious motives.
[1]
Editor's Note — At the August, 2008 update per the City's
instruction this Section "parking violation charges to be included
on personal property tax bills" was deleted. Former section 120.260
derived from ord. no. 813 §1, 3-8-2000.
[CC 1981 §120.270; Ord. No. 484 §27, 12-13-1978]
When a fine is assessed for violating the Municipal Code, it
shall be within the discretion of the Judge assessing the fine to
provide for the payment of a fine on an installment basis under such
terms and conditions as he/she may deem appropriate.
[CC 1981 §120.280; Ord. No. 484 §28, 12-13-1978]
The Municipal Judge shall receive as compensation an amount
as is now provided by ordinance or as hereafter may be amended.
