The City has established a Municipal Court, to be known as the Raymore Municipal Court, a Division of the 17th Judicial Circuit Court of the State of Missouri.
The Municipal Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine all cases involving alleged violations of ordinances of the City, and to assess punishment, by fine or incarceration, as provided. The Municipal Court shall be subject to the rules of the Missouri Supreme Court and the Circuit Court of which it is part. (Charter § 7.1, 11-4-97)
A qualified person shall be appointed Municipal Judge of the City by the Mayor, such appointment subject to the approval of a three-quarter (3/4) vote of the entire Council of the City. The party appointed Municipal Judge shall serve for a period of two (2) years, with the first such term to begin one (1) day subsequent to the expiration of the normal term now in progress.
The person appointed Municipal Judge shall comply with all requirements presently set forth in City ordinances, RSMo., and the Missouri Supreme Court Rules except that said person appointed need not be a resident of the City and may serve as Municipal Judge in other municipalities. The Municipal Judge shall have been licensed to practice law in this State for a period of at least three (3) years.
The Municipal Judge shall receive such compensation as may be determined from time to time by the City Council.
A. 
The Municipal Judge shall vacate their office under the following circumstances:
1. 
Upon removal from office by the State Commission on retirement, removal and discipline of Judges, as provided in Missouri Supreme Court Rule 12,
2. 
Upon attaining their 75th birthday, or
3. 
Upon the Judge's death, resignation, or removal from office in any manner authorized by the Charter or by law, or upon forfeiture of the office.
B. 
A Municipal Judge shall forfeit their office if the Judge:
1. 
At any time during the term of office lacks any qualification for the office prescribed by the Charter or by law,
2. 
Violates any prohibition as provided in Section 7.2(d) of the Charter, or
3. 
Violates the requirements of Section 14.1 of the Charter.
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 their directives.
The Municipal Judge shall cause to be prepared within the first ten (10) days of every month the Municipal Division Summary Reporting Form from the previous month. The same shall be prepared under oath by the Court Administrator or the Municipal Judge. This report will be filed with the City Clerk, who shall forward the same to the City Council of the City for examination at its first session thereafter. The Municipal Court shall, within ten (10) days after the first of the month, pay to the City the full amount of all fines collected during the preceding months, if they have not previously been paid.
No member of the City Council shall directly interfere with the conduct of any court case. The Municipal Judge shall use their free and independent judgment in the decision of cases and no member of the City Council shall interfere with that judgment.
A. 
The Municipal Judge shall be a conservator of the peace and shall;
1. 
Keep a docket in which every case commenced before them and the proceedings will be entered;
2. 
Keep such other records as may be required. The docket and records shall be records of the Circuit Court of Cass County.
3. 
Deliver the docket and records of the Municipal Court, and all documents pertaining to their office, to their successor in office or to the Presiding Judge of the Circuit.
A. 
The Municipal Judge shall be and is 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 them, and may fine and imprison for contempt committed before them 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 may be annulled or amended by an 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 RSMo.
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.
6. 
The Municipal Judge shall perform all duties as outlined in the Raymore City Charter, Raymore Municipal Code of Ordinances and RSMo.
The Municipal Judge may establish a Violations Bureau and adopted a schedule of fines and court costs, in respect to which payments may be accepted by the Court Administrator in satisfaction thereof, in compliance with orders of Missouri Supreme Court Rule 37 or RSMo. The Violations Bureau shall accept the designated fines and issue receipts to those violators permitted to plead guilty through the Violations Bureau. The Municipal Judge has established certain offenses that shall require appearance before the Court. The Violations Bureau shall follow such procedure as may be prescribed by the ordinances of the City or as may be required by any laws of this State. The City shall provide all expenses incident to the operation of the Violations Bureau. The Court Administrator is designated as the Violations Clerk for the Violations Bureau.
A. 
Any person charged with an offense for which payment of a fine may be made to the Violations Bureau shall have the option of paying such fine within the time specified in the notice of summons at the Violations Bureau upon entering a plea of guilty and upon waiving appearance in court; or may have the option to personally appear in court to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. Upon a plea of not guilty the person shall be entitled to a trial as authorized by law.
B. 
The payment of a fine to the Bureau shall be deemed an acknowledgement of conviction of the alleged offense, and the Bureau, upon accepting the prescribed fine, shall issue a receipt to the violator acknowledging payment.
The Violations Bureau shall keep records and submit to the Judge hearing violations of City ordinances summarized monthly reports of all notices issued and arrests made for violations of traffic laws and ordinances in the City and of all fines collected by the Violations Bureau or the court, and of the final disposition or present status of every case of violation of the provisions of said laws and ordinances. Such records shall be so maintained as to show all types of violations and the totals of each. Said records shall be public records.
At the discretion of the arresting Law Enforcement Officer, the Municipal Court may accept the Missouri driver's license of an accused in all traffic cases involving motor vehicles arising within the City in lieu of a cash bond in order to insure the attendance of the accused at Municipal Court.
All warrants issued by a Municipal Judge shall be directed to the Chief of Police. The warrant shall be executed by the Chief of Police 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 Chief of Police may, without a warrant, make arrest of any person who commits an offense in their 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 provided by law.
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 notify such witnesses to attend before them on the day set for trial to testify in the case, and enter the names of such witnesses on their docket, which notice shall be valid as a summons.
If, in the progress of any trial before a Municipal Judge, it shall appear to the Judge that the accused ought to be put on trial for an offense against the criminal laws of the State and not before them as Municipal Judge, they shall immediately stop all further proceedings within the jurisdiction of the Municipal Court and cause the complaint to be made before an Associate Circuit Judge within 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 or other authorized place of confinement, and it shall be the duty of the Chief Law Enforcement Officer, if space for the prisoner is available in the County Jail or other authorized place of confinement, 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 be allowed to such entity for the keeping of such prisoner in their custody. The same shall be taxed as cost.
A. 
Any Judge hearing violations of municipal ordinances may, when in their 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 they shall be given a document explicitly stating the conditions on which they are 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 community service. If they do 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 them 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.
Except where there has been a plea of guilty or the case has been tried with a jury, the defendant shall have a right of trial de novo before a Circuit Judge or upon 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 rule.
Any person who willfully violates their written promise to appear or who shall fail to appear at the time and place scheduled in response to any summons or warrant shall be guilty of an ordinance violation regardless of disposition of the charge upon which they were originally arrested or summoned, with the exception of minor traffic violations as defined in Section 479.350 RSMo., being a municipal ordinance violation not involving an accident or injury, which does not involve the operation of a commercial vehicle and violations where the Department of Revenue is authorized to assess no more than four (4) points to a person's driving record upon conviction, and it excludes speeding violations for exceeding the speed limit by more than nineteen (19) miles per hour or violations in a construction or school zone.
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 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 before a Municipal Judge, such shall be noted on the disposition of the proceedings before the Municipal Judge. All monies recovered in such actions shall be paid over to the City.
A Municipal Judge shall be disqualified to hear any case in which they are in anyway conflicted 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 City shall be entitled to file more than one (1) affidavit or disqualification in the same case.
A. 
If the Municipal Judge is absent, sick or disqualified from acting, the Municipal Judge or Court Administrator may designate any other Municipal Judge in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court who shall agree to hear the matter.
B. 
Pursuant to Section 478.240 RSMo., whenever any substitute Municipal Judge hears a case pending before the Municipal Court of the City, the substitute Judge shall receive compensation as agreed to by the substitute judge and the Municipal Court and will be paid upon the submission of appropriate reimbursement request.
A. 
The office of Court Administrator is hereby established. The duties of said Court Administrator shall be as follows:
1. 
Collect fines for violations of offenses as may be described, and the Court costs.
2. 
Take oaths and affirmations.
3. 
Accept signed complaints and allow the same to be signed and sworn to or affirmed before them.
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.
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 RSMo.
7. 
Maintain, properly certified by the City Clerk, a complete copy of the ordinances of the City which shall constitute prima facie evidence of such ordinance before the Court.
[Ord. No. 2021-065, § 1, 10-25-2021]
A. 
In addition to any fine that may be imposed by the Municipal Judge there shall be assessed as costs in all cases the following, except when the case is dismissed, the defendant is found not guilty, or the defendant is found to be indigent:
1. 
Cost of court in the amount approved by the Governing Body and listed in the Schedule of Fees and Charges maintained in the Finance Department.
2. 
Costs for the training of Police Officers in the amount approved by the Governing Body and listed in the Schedule of Fees and Charges maintained in the Finance Department.
3. 
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.
4. 
Actual costs assessed against the City by the owner of any jail for confinement in said Jail.
5. 
An additional sum approved by the Governing Body and listed in the Schedule of Fees and Charges maintained in the Finance Department for Crime Victims Compensation Fund shall be assessed and all sums collected pursuant to this Subsection shall be distributed as follows:
a. 
Ninety-five percent (95%) of such fees shall be paid to the Director of Revenue of the State of Missouri for deposit to the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund and the Services to Victims Fund as provided in Section 595.045 RSMo.
b. 
Five percent (5%) shall be paid to the City.
6. 
Mileage, in the same amount as provided to the Sheriff in criminal violations, for each mile and fraction thereof the officer must travel (both directions) in order to serve any warrant or commitment or order of this Court.
7. 
The Municipal Court Judge shall assess an additional Domestic Violence Shelter surcharge in an amount in compliance with Section 488.607 RSMo., and as approved by the Governing Body and listed in the Schedule of Fees and Charges maintained in the Finance Department for each case filed for violation of Municipal ordinances. The Court Administrator shall collect the additional Court costs and promptly disburse them no less often than monthly to the City. The City shall use the proceeds of these additional Court costs only for the purpose of providing operating expenses for shelters for victims of domestic violence that are qualified under State law to receive the proceeds of these additional costs.
8. 
Cost for the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission Fund shall be in an amount as approved by the Governing Body and listed in the Schedule of Fees and Charges maintained in the Finance Department. Such fees collected shall be deposited into the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission Fund to be used Statewide for training Law Enforcement Officers. Such payments should be made by check payable to the "Treasurer State of Missouri" and mailed each month to:
Budget Director
Department of Public Safety
P.O. Box 749
Jefferson City, MO 65102
9. 
A fee to be paid into the Inmate Prisoner Detainee Prisoner Security Fund in the amount approved by the Governing Body and listed in the Schedule of Fees and Charges maintained in the Finance Department for the purposes authorized by Section 488.5026 RSMo.
10. 
Reimbursement of certain costs of arrest.
a. 
Upon a plea or a finding of guilt for an offense of violating the provisions of an ordinance of the City 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 Chief of Police shall establish a schedule of such costs hereby authorized and shall submit the same to the Municipal Judge. However, the Court may order the costs reduced if it determines that the costs are excessive.
d. 
These costs shall be calculated as additional costs by the Municipal Court and shall be collected by the court in the same manner as other costs and fees are collected and remitted to the City.
e. 
Upon receipt of such additional costs authorized by this Section, the City shall retain such costs in a separate fund to be known as the "DWI/Drug Offense Cost Reimbursement Fund." Monies with such fund shall be appropriated to the Police Department in amounts equal to those costs so collected and shall be used by such Department specifically to enhance and support the enforcement and prosecution of alcohol- and drug-related traffic laws within the City.
11. 
Statewide Court Automation Fund. In addition to the other costs authorized by this Section, there shall be assessed a state court automation surcharge in the amount authorized by Section 476.056 RSMo., in every proceeding filed in the municipal division for violation of an ordinance. Such surcharge shall also be assessed in cases in which pleas of guilty are processed by the Violations Bureau. No such surcharge shall be collected when the proceeding or defendant has been dismissed by the Court, when costs are waived or when costs are paid to the City. Such surcharge shall be collected by the municipal court and transmitted monthly to the Missouri Director of Revenue to the credit of the Missouri Statewide Automation Fund as provided in Section 488.012.3(5) and Section 488.027.2, RSMo.
The costs of any action may be assessed against the prosecuting witness and judgment be rendered against them that they 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.
When a fine is assessed for violating an ordinance, 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 they may deem appropriate.