A. There
is hereby established in the Village of Hanley Hills a Municipal Court
to be known as the "Hanley Hills Municipal Court, a Division of the
21st 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 Village as
previously established and is termed herein "The Municipal Court."
B. Effective
October 15, 2020, the Village entered into an agreement with the City
of St. Ann, Missouri, to provide Municipal Court services to the Village
in accordance with the agreement signed and on file in the Village
offices.
[Ord. No. 179, 10-15-2020]
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 Village's Municipal Court shall be known as
a Municipal Judge of the 21st Judicial Circuit Court and shall be
selected by appointment to the position by the Chairperson with approval
of a majority of the members of the Board of Trustees for a term as
specified herein.
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.
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 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 Village.
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 Village 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 Village 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
Village Clerk who shall lay the same before the Board of Trustees
of the Village for examination at its first session thereafter. The
Municipal Court shall, within the ten (10) days after the first 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 St. Louis 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 Village.
[R.O. 2013 § 125.110; R.O. 2012 § 125.110]
The Municipal Judge for the Village of Hanley Hills 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 Village shall provide all expenses incident to the operation
of the same.
All warrants issued by a Municipal Judge shall be directed to
the Village 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 Village Marshal, Chief of Police or other Police Officer
of the Village 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.
[R.O. 2013 § 125.145; R.O. 2012 § 125.145;
CC 1987 § 72.240]
There shall be a session of the Municipal Court at least as
often as monthly, and the dates for holding of sessions of the Court
shall be fixed by the Municipal Judge.
[R.O. 2013 § 125.150; R.O. 2012 § 125.155;
CC 1987 § 72.340]
In the trial of municipal ordinance violation cases, a copy
of the municipal ordinance which is certified by the Clerk of the
Village shall constitute prima facie evidence of such ordinance. If
such certified copy is on file with the Clerk serving the Judge hearing
a case and readily available for inspection by the parties, the Judge
may take judicial notice of such ordinance without further proof.
It shall be the duty of an attorney designated by the Village
to prosecute the violations of the Village's ordinances before the
Municipal Judge or before any Circuit Judge hearing violations of
the Village's ordinances. The salary or fees of the attorney and his/her
necessary expenses incurred in such prosecutions shall be paid by
the Village. 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.
If, in the opinion of the Municipal Judge, the Village 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:
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, Village, person, organization or agency or
employee of a County, Village, 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 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.
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 Village of Hanley Hills 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.