There is hereby established in the City of St. Ann a Municipal
Court to be known as the "St. Ann 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 City as previously
established and is termed herein "the Municipal Court."
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 City'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 Mayor with approval of a majority
of the members of the Board of Aldermen 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 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 a Municipal Judge for any other municipality.
6.
He/she may not hold any other office within the City 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 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.
The Municipal Judge shall cause the Court Administrator 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 Administrator or the Judge shall
verify such lists and statements by affidavit and shall file the same
with the City Clerk who shall lay the same before the Board of Aldermen
of the City 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 City.
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.
[R.O. 1998 § 130.050; CC 1988 §2-306; Ord. No. 886 §7, 12-18-1978]
A. The duly appointed Municipal Judge is hereby
authorized and directed to establish a Violations Bureau to be operated
under the direction of the Judge and the Clerks of the Municipal Court.
B. The duties of the Violations Bureau shall
be as follows:
1.
It shall accept designated fines,
issue receipts and represent, in Court, such violators as are permitted
and who desire to plead guilty, waive Court appearance and give power
of attorney.
2.
It shall keep an easily accessible
record of all violations of which each person has been guilty during
the preceding twelve (12) months, whether such guilt was established
in Court or in the Violations Bureau.
3.
The Bureau shall keep and submit
summarized reports to the Municipal Judge, the Mayor and the Board
of Aldermen of all fines and costs collected by the Violations Bureau.
4.
It shall receive and issue receipts
for cash bail from the persons who must or wish to be heard in court,
enter the time of their appearance on the court docket, and notify
the arresting Officer and witnesses, if any, to be present.
C. All fines and costs collected by the Clerks
of the Municipal Court, whether from the operation of the Violations
Bureau or from Court appearances, shall be evidenced by a duplicate
receipt and the funds so collected together with the duplicate copy
of the receipt shall be transmitted to the City Treasurer within twenty-four
(24) hours of receipt.
All warrants issued by a Municipal Judge shall be directed to
the Chief of Police or any other Police Officer of the municipality.
The warrants shall be executed by the Chief of Police or a duly authorized
Police Officer 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 Chief of Police or other Police Officer of the City 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.
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.
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 City has no suitable
and safe place of confinement, the Municipal Judge may commit the
defendant to the County Jail. The municipality shall pay the board
of such prisoner at the same rate as may now or hereafter be allowed
by law.
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 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 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 bond entered into
before a Municipal 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. 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 City of St. Ann 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.
C. No additional charge shall be issued for the failure to appear for
a minor traffic violation., 2016)