AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING THE MUNICIPAL COURT AS A DIVISION OF THE 27^TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI; CREATING THE OFFICE OF MUNICIPAL JUDGE; DEFINING THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF SUCH OFFICE; PROVIDING FOR A CLERK OF THE MUNICIPAL COURT; AND PROVIDING FOR THE PAYMENT OF COURT COSTS AND FINES

WHEREAS, the voters of the State ofMissouridid adopt a new judicial article to theMissouriConstitution designed to reform the judicial system of the state; and

WHEREAS, the state legislature has passed a new statute designed to amplify the new judicial article, a portion of which statute (to be known as Chapter 479 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri) relates to municipal courts; and

WHEREAS, the city has the option of continuing its present municipal court as a division of the circuit court of this county or of abolishing its municipal court and allowing the state maintained court system to handle the city’s municipal ordinance violations; and

WHEREAS, the City ofRich Hilldesires to retain its court, reconstituting the same as a division of the Circuit Court of Bates County, Missouri.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF RICH HILL MISSOURI, AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Section 1. There is hereby established in this city a municipal court, to be known as the “Rich Hill Municipal Court, a Division of the 27^th Judicial Circuit Court of the State ofMissouri”. This court is a continuation of the police court of the city as previously established, and is termed herein “the municipal court”.

Section 2. The jurisdiction of the municipal court shall extend to all cases involving alleged violations of the ordinances of the city.

Section 3. The judge of the City’s Municipal Court shall be the Associate Circuit Judge ofBates County,Missouri.

Section 4. The Associate Circuit Judge shall hold office as the City’s Municipal Judge until such time as the Board of Aldermen shall enact an ordinance to the contrary.

Section 5. The municipal judge shall vacate his office under the following circumstances:

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
Upon attaining his 75^th birthday.

Section 6. The municipal judge shall possess the following qualifications:

He need not be a licensed attorney qualified to practice law within the State ofMissouri.
He must be a resident of the State ofMissouri
He must be between the ages of 21 and 75 years.
He may serve as a municipal judge for any other municipality.
He may not hold any other office within the City Government.
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.

Section 7. 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 directives.

Section 8. The municipal judge shall cause to be prepared within the first ten 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 name of the defendants committed and in the cases where there was an application for trial de novo, respectively.

Section 9. The municipal judge shall be a conservator of the peace. He shall keep a docket in which he shall enter every case commenced before him and the proceedings therein and he shall keep such other records as may be required. Such docket and records shall be records of the circuit court ofBatesCounty. The municipal judge shall deliver the docket and records of the municipal court, and all books and papers pertaining to his office, to his successor in office or to the preceding judge of the circuit.

Article 2

Section 1. The municipal judge shall be and is hereby authorized to:

Establish a Traffic Violations Bureau as provided for in the Missouri Rules of Practice and Procedure in Municipal and Traffic Courts and section 479.050 of the Revised States ofMissouri.
Administer oaths and enforce due obedience to all orders, rules and judgments made by him, and may fine and imprison for contempt committed before him while holding court, in the same manner and to the same extent as a circuit judge.
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.
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 my 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 state statutes.
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.

Section 2. Should the municipal judge determine that there shall be a Traffic Violations Bureau, the City shall provide all expenses incident to the operation of the same. The City Clerk is hereby designated as the Traffic Violations Clerk for said Bureau, if established.

Section 3. All warrants issued by a municipal judge shall be directed to the City Marshal, 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 Marshal, 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.

Section 4. The City Marshal, 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 presence, but such officer shall, before the trial file a written complaint with the judge hearing violations of municipal ordinances.

Section 5. 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, as provided in Section 2 of Section 517.520, Revised Statutes of Missouri.

Section 6. 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’ ordinances. The salary or fees of the attorney and his 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.

Section 7. 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 on the day set for trial to testify in the case, and enter the names of such witnesses on his docket, which oral notice shall be valid as a summons.

Section 8. If, in the progress of any trial before a 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 as a municipal judge, he shall immediately stop all further proceeding before him as municipal judge and cause the complaint to be made before some associate circuit judge within the county.

Section 9. 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 custody. The same shall be taxed as cost.

Section 10. Any judge hearing violations of municipal ordinances may, when in his 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 said judge.

Section 11. The defendant shall have a right to a trial de novo, even from a plea of guilty, before a circuit judge or an associate circuit judge. Such application for a trial de novo shall be filed within ten days after the judgments and shall be in the form as provided by Supreme Court rules.

Section 12. 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.

Section 13. 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, 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.

Section 14. A municipal judge shall be disqualified to hear any case in which he 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 affidavit or disqualification in the same case.

Section 15. If a municipal judge be absent, sick or disqualified from acting, the Mayor may request the Presiding Judge of the Twenty – Seventh Judicial Circuit of the Sate of Missouri, to appoint some suitable person to act as Municipal Judge until such absence or disqualification shall cease.

Article 3

The City Clerk or their designated person is hereby designated as the Clerk of the Municipal Court.

The duties of said clerk shall be as follows:

To collect such fines for violations of such offenses as may be described, and the court costs thereof.
To take oaths and affirmations.
To accept signed complaints, and allow the same to be signed and sworn to or affirmed before him or her.
Sign and issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses and sign and issue subpoenas ducus tacum.
Accept the appearance, waiver of trial and plea of guilty and payment of fine and costs in Traffic Violation Bureau cases or as directed by the municipal judge; generally act as Violation Clerk of the Traffic Violation Bureau.
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.
Maintain, properly certified by the city clerk, a complete copy of the ordinances of the city of the municipality, which shall constitute prima facia evidence of such ordinance before the court. Further, to maintain a similar certified copy on file with the clerk serving the circuit court of this county.

Article 4

Section 1. The City Clerk is directed to file a certified copy of this ordinance with the circuit clerk of this county, the same to serve as official notification of the city’s intention to retain its municipal court.

Section 2. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance are hereby repealed.

Section 3. The invalidity of any section, clause, sentence, or provision of this ordinance shall not affect the validity of any other part of this ordinance, which can be given effect without such invalid part or parts.

Section 4. This ordinance shall take effect after its passage and approval.

Section 5. Any ordinance or parts of ordinances in conflict with this ordinance is hereby repealed.

READ TWO TIMES AND PASSED THIS 22^ND DAY OF FEBRUARY 2005.

APPROVED THIS 22^ND DAY OF FEBRUARY 2005

______________________________

Tammy Williams, Mayor

ATTEST:

_____________________________

Rose Entrikin, City Clerk

Ayes: Steuck, Turner, Heckadon, Miller

Nays: None

CERTIFICATION BY THE CITY CLERK

STATE OFMISSOURI )

) as

COUNTYOFBATES )

I, Rose Entrikin, Clerk of the City of Rich Hill, in the County and State aforesaid, do hereby certify that the above and foregoing ordinance is a true and correct copy of the Ordinance No. 1225 duly adopted by the Board of Alderman of the City of Rich Hill, Missouri at their regular of meeting on the 22^ND day of February 2005.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereby set my hand and affix the seal of the said City at my office in Rich Hill, Missouri.

______________________________________

Rose Entrikin, Clerk ofCity of Rich Hill,Missouri