[Ord. 2131, §2]
There is hereby established a municipal court, to be known as the "Rolla Municipal Court, a division of the Twenty-fifth Judicial Circuit of the State of Missouri." This court is a continuation of the police court of the city as previously established and is termed herein "the municipal court."
[Ord. 2131, §3]
The person serving as police judge for the City of Rolla on the effective date of this Ordinance, shall serve as municipal judge of the City of Rolla, Missouri, and shall serve out the term for which he was elected as such judge. Such person shall continue to receive the compensation provided for such position prior to the effective date of this Ordinance for the remainder of said term.
[Ord. 2131, §5]
The municipal judge of the City of Rolla, Missouri, shall be elected by the qualified voters of Rolla at the municipal election on the first Tuesday in April of 1980 and every two (2) years thereafter, and shall hold office for the term herein provided and until his successor has been duly elected and qualified. The procedures for filing declarations of candidacy, and other election procedures that are applicable to the office of mayor shall apply to the office of municipal judge, except that there is no limitation on the number of terms that a person may serve as municipal judge.
[Ord. 2131, §6; Ord. 2966, §1]
The municipal judge shall vacate his office under the following circumstances:
(a) 
Upon removal from office by the State Commission on Retirement and Discipline of Judges, as provided in Missouri Supreme Court Rule 12; or
(b) 
Upon attaining his/her 70th birthday; or
(c) 
Should he fail, within six (6) months of the selection, to satisfactorily complete a course on instructions for municipal judges as prescribed by the Supreme Court.
[Ord. 2137, §7; Ord. 2966, §2; Ord. 3134, §1; Ord. 3363, §2]
The municipal judge shall possess the following qualifications before he shall take office:
(a) 
He must be a licensed attorney qualified to practice law within the State of Missouri, except that the person serving as police judge on the effective date of this Ordinance does not have to be a licensed attorney if such person has served as such for at least three (3) years.
(b) 
He/she must reside within the City of Rolla, Missouri
(c) 
He must be a resident of the State of Missouri.
(d) 
He/she must be between the ages of twenty-one (21) and sixty-eight (68) years.
(e) 
He may serve as municipal judge for other municipalities.
(f) 
He may not hold any other office within the government of the City of Rolla.
(g) 
The municipal judge shall be considered holding a part-time position, and as such, may accept other employment within the requirements of the Code of Judicial Conduct, Missouri Supreme Court Rule 2.
[Ord. 1954, § 1; Ord. 2471, §1; Ord. 2719, §1; Ord. 2988, §1; Ord. 4387, §1]
The municipal judge shall receive the annual salary of eighteen thousand dollars ($18,000.00), which salary shall be paid bi-weekly.
[Ord. 2131, §8]
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.
[Ord. 2131, §9; Ord. 2590, §1]
The municipal judge shall report, within the first ten (10) days of every month, the following:
(a) 
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 defendants committed and in the cases where there was an application of trial de novo, respectively. The same shall be prepared under oath by the municipal court clerk or the municipal judge. This report shall be filed with the city clerk, who shall thereafter make available the same to the city council of the City of Rolla for examination. The municipal court shall, within ten (10) days after the first of the month, pay to the municipal treasurer the full amount of all fines collected during the preceding months, if they have not previously been paid.
[Ord. 2131, §10]
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 of Phelps County. 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 presiding judge of the circuit.
[Ord. 2131, §11]
The municipal judge shall be and is hereby authorized to:
(a) 
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 Statutes of Missouri.
(b) 
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.
(c) 
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.
(d) 
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 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 state statutes.
(e) 
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.
[Ord. 2131, §12]
The municipal judge may establish a traffic violations bureau and if the same is established, the city shall provide all funding for the operation of such bureau.
[Ord. 2131, §13]
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. 2131, §14]
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 517.020, Revised Statutes of Missouri.
[Ord. 2131, §15]
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.
[Ord. 2131, §16]
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 municipal judge, he shall immediately stop all further proceedings before him as municipal judge and cause the complaint to be made before some associate circuit judge within the county.
[Ord. 2131, §17]
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.
[Ord. 2131, §18]
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.
[Ord. 2153, §1]
In any case tried before a municipal judge who is not licensed to practice law in this state, the defendant shall have a right to trial de novo, even from a plea of guilty, before a circuit judge or an associate circuit judge. In any case tried before a municipal judge who is licensed to practice law in this state, or before an associate circuit judge, except where there has been a plea of guilty or the case has been tried with a jury, the defendant shall have the right of trial de novo before a circuit judge or upon assignment before an associate circuit judge. An application for 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 any case tried with a jury before an associate circuit judge a record shall be made and appeals may be had upon that record to the appropriate appellate court.
[Ord. 2131, §20]
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.
[Ord. 2131, §21]
In the case of a breach of any recognizance enter into before a municipal judge or 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.
[Ord. 2131, §22]
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 (1) affidavit or disqualification in the same case.
[Ord. 2131, §23]
If a municipal judge be absent, sick or disqualified from acting, the mayor may designate some competent, eligible person to act as municipal judge until such absence or disqualification shall cease; provided, however, that should a vacancy occur in the office of an elected municipal judge more than six (6) months before a general municipal election, then a special election shall be held to fill such vacancy; and in case of vacancy in the office of an elected municipal judge within less than six (6) months of a general municipal election, the office may be filled by a competent, eligible person designated by the mayor.
[Ord. 2131, §24]
Should the municipal judge be disqualified to act in any case and a temporary judge is designated as provided by this Ordinance, such person shall receive the sum of thirty-five dollars ($35.00) per day of service, payable by the city. Persons designated to fill a vacancy in the office of municipal judge shall receive the same salary as the duly elected municipal judge.
[Ord. 4005, §1]
In addition to any fine that may be imposed by the municipal judge there shall be assessed as costs in all cases the following:
(a) 
Costs of court in the amount of fifteen dollars ($15.00), three dollars ($3.00) of such sum to be used only to pay for the training required as provided in Sections 590.100 to 590.150 RSMo 1986, as amended, provided that any excess funds not needed to pay for such training may be used to pay for additional training for peace officers or for training for other law enforcement officers employed or appointed by the City of Rolla, provided one dollar ($1.00) of such fees collected shall be deposited into the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission Fund, to be used statewide for training law enforcement officers.
[Ord. 3167, §2; amended by Ord. 4005, §1]
(b) 
An additional court cost of two dollars ($2.00) for the maintenance of a Domestic Violence Shelter pursuant to Section 488.607, RSMo. Said sums shall be collected by the clerk and disbursed to the City on a monthly basis. The City shall disburse the funds to Phelps County Family Crisis Services, Inc., as long as:
(1) 
Said organization maintains its corporate status as a not-for-profit corporation under Missouri law; and
(2) 
Said organization maintains a shelter within the city limits of Rolla, Missouri for battered persons as defined in Sections 455.200 through 455.230, RSMo. 1993 Supp.
If said organization ceases to comply with either of the above conditions, the City shall disburse said funds to the Phelps County Domestic Violence Shelter Board established pursuant to Chapter 455, RSMo. by general election held on April 5, 1983. Said funds shall be used by said board for sheltering City residents who are defined as battered persons under Sections 455.200 through 455.230, RSMo.
(c) 
Costs assessed against the city by the county sheriff for the apprehension or confinement of a person in the county jail.
(d) 
In addition to other court costs provided herein, a fee of seven dollars and fifty cents ($7.50) shall be assessed and collected in each court proceeding for the Crime Victim's Compensation Fund as provided by state law. This fee shall be assessed for municipal ordinance violations that are disposed of on or after August 13, 1988. The fee shall be collected and paid over to the state and city as provided in Sec. 595.045.3 RSMo. The fee shall not be collected for: violations of nonmoving traffic laws or ordinances; in a proceeding when the proceeding or the defendant has been dismissed by the court; or, when costs are to be paid by the city on behalf of an indigent defendant.
(e) 
A seven dollars ($7.00) Court Automation Fee shall be assessed and collected, which shall be disbursed monthly to the Missouri Court Automation Fund, as provided in RSMo. Section 488.027.
The costs of any action may be assessed against the prosecuting witness and judgment be rendered against him that he 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.
[Ord. 2131, §27]
When a fine is assessed for violating an ordinance, it should 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 he may deem appropriate.
[Ord. 2131, §28]
There shall be a municipal division clerk and such additional clerical staff as is necessary to aid the municipal division clerk. The municipal division clerk, under the supervision of the municipal judge and with the aid of the other clerical personnel, shall perform the following duties:
(a) 
The duties provided for clerks for municipal divisions by subsection 1 of Section 479.060 and subsections 3 and 4 of Section 483.241, RSMo 1978;
(b) 
Collect fines and court costs which are assessed by the municipal judge or in the traffic violations bureau;
(c) 
Remit to the proper official fines and court costs which are collected within the time and in the manner provided by statute, court rule or ordinance.