[Ord. No. 879 §1, 11-14-1978]
There is hereby established in this City a Municipal Court,
to be known as the "Woodson Terrace 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".
[Ord. No. 879 §2, 11-14-1978]
The jurisdiction of the Municipal Court shall extend to all
cases involving alleged violations of the ordinances of the City.
[Ord. No. 879 §3, 11-14-1978]
The Judge of the City's Municipal Court shall be known as a
Municipal Judge of the 21st Judicial Circuit Court and shall be appointed
to his/her position by the Mayor, subject to the confirmation of the
Board of Aldermen, for a term as specified herein. The Mayor may appoint
one (1) or more persons to the position.
The Municipal Judge shall hold his/her office for a period of
two (2) years and he/she shall hold office until his/her successor
is appointed and qualified.
[Ord. No. 879 §5, 11-14-1978]
A.
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 be suspended or disbarred from the practice of law
in Missouri or surrender his/her license to practice.
[Ord. No. 879 §6, 11-14-1978]
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 Municipal Judge for any other municipality.
6.
He/she may not hold any other office within the municipality.
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.
[Ord. No. 879 §7, 11-14-1978]
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.
[Ord. No. 879 §8, 11-14-1978]
The Municipal Judge shall cause to be prepared within the first
ten (10) days of every month a report indicating the following:
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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 Administrator or the Municipal Judge. This report
will be filed with the Clerk who shall thereafter forward the same
to the Board of Aldermen of the City for 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
Collector the full amount of all fines collected during the preceding
months, if they have not previously been paid.
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[Ord. No. 879 §9, 11-14-1978]
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 as may be required. Such docket and records shall be
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.
[Ord. No. 879 §10, 11-14-1978]
A.
The
Municipal Judge shall be and is hereby authorized to:
1.
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.
2.
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.
3.
Make and adopt such rules of practice and procedure as are necessary
to implement and carryout 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 carryout the provisions of the Missouri Rules of Practice
and Procedure in Municipal and Traffic Courts.
4.
The Municipal Judge shall have such other powers, duties and privileges
as are or may be prescribed by the laws of this State, or other ordinances
of this City.
[Ord. No. 879 §11, 11-14-1978]
The Municipal Judge shall establish a Violations Bureau. The
City shall provide all expenses incident to the operation of the same.
The Court Administrator is hereby designated as the Violations Clerk
for said Bureau.
[Ord. No. 879 §12, 11-14-1978]
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.
[Ord. No. 879 §13, 11-14-1978]
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.
[Ord. No. 879 §14, 11-14-1978]
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 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.
[Ord. No. 879 §15, 11-14-1978]
It shall be the duty of an attorney designated by the municipality
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
result in any case.
[Ord. No. 879 §16, 11-14-1978]
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.
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
577.023, RSMo., or has had two (2) or more previous alcohol-related
enforcement contacts as defined in Section 302.525, RSMo.
[Ord. No. 879 §18, 11-14-1978]
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 or other jail, and it shall be the duty of
the Sheriff, if space for the prisoner is available in the County
or other 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 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:
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.
[Ord. No. 879 §20, 11-14-1978]
In all cases tried before the Municipal Court, except where
there has been a plea of guilty, 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.
[Ord. No. 879 §22, 11-14-1978]
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 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, 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.
[Ord. No. 879 §23, 11-14-1978]
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.
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.
[Ord. No. 879 §30, 11-14-1978]
The compensation of the Municipal Judge and any temporary Municipal
Judge shall be as prescribed from time to time by ordinance.
