Tag Archives: Missouri traffic law

Missouri Legislature trying to stop ticket quotas

June 8, 2016

In May, the Missouri Legislature passed a law banning law enforcement agencies from setting quotas for traffic citations. The Bill is currently awaiting signature from Governor Nixon. The Bill was sponsored by Senate Republican Eric Schmitt from Glendale. He indicated the law was necessary to prevent local law enforcement agencies from using police officers to pad their budgets. For example, the Mayor of Edmundson sent a letter to the city’s police officers telling them they needed to issue more tickets in order to help pay their salaries.

Currently only St. Louis County has restrictions on traffic citations quotas. This new law would expand to all law enforcement agencies in the state. Punishments for violation of this new law could include Class A misdemeanor charges against city officials who order employees to issue a certain number of traffic citations.  

Failure to follow instructions can count as a refusal

June 6, 2016

The Western District Court of Appeals has issued an opinion adding clarification as to what constitutes a refusal of a breathalyzer. In this case, Rader vs. DOR, WD78880, Rader agreed to take the breath test. Pursuant to trial court testimony, Rader blocked the mouthpiece of the instrument with his upper lip when he first attempted to blow. This resulted in the machine indicating that it was an insufficient sample. He was informed of this issue, but continued to place his lip over the mouthpiece on subsequent attempts also resulting in insufficient sample readings. Then, according to testimony, he indicated he wasn’t going to blow again and sat down. The Officer then noted it as a refusal to submit to a breath test.

The Appellate Court indicates that “the issue of whether a driver has refused to submit to a chemical analysis test is a question of fact to be decided by the trial court.” The Court further states: “A driver’s failure to follow instructions about the manner in which to blow into a breath analysis machine is sufficient evidence for a finder of fact to find a volitional failure to submit to a chemical analysis test as required by law.” The Court follows previous case law holding that even though an “attempt” is made, if the driver fails to follow instructions it can be deemed a refusal.

Citizens may get chance to vote red light camera tickets out

May 12, 2016

The Missouri House of Representatives recently moved legislation that would allow citizens to determine what to do with red light cameras. State Representative Bryan Spencer (R-Wentzville) introduced the ballot measure by voice vote.  The bill will receive a final vote in the state House after a fiscal review of it.

The bill then would need to be passed by the Senate and signed into law.

The bill calls for asking voters whether they want to stop cities from making new deals with red light and speed camera companies.

The bill allows jurisdictions with existing automated ticketing programs one year to wind down their contracts and shut the cameras down. The proposal also prohibits the mailing of automated citations.
Known as House Bill 1945, it calls for motorists who get a red light ticket to receive in person notification from a law enforcement officer working with the agency issuing the ticket.  It also allows the use of automated license plate readers.  The bill calls for a ballot measure on November 8.

Cases that are excluded from the bill are hit and run cases, parking tickets, open investigations, and cases in which in-person notification is not possible.

A similar bill had passed in the Missouri House last year but failed to make it to the Senate.

Similar bans have been successful at the county level in St. Charles where voters banned automated ticketing machines in 2014.  In November 2015, a court rejected attempts from three municipals to reinstate their use of the ticketing machines.

State Auditor has issued reports for Foristell and St. Ann

December 23, 2015

The State Auditor, Nicole Galloway, has begun looking into St. Louis-area municipalities regarding traffic revenue. These audits are due to the new law which limits fines, bans failure to appear charges for missing a court date, bans jail as a sentence for minor traffic offenses and restricts the revenue from court fines and fees.

Pursuant to the new law, cities are required to provide financial reports annually. Failure to do so could trigger loss of sales tax revenue and transfer of all pending cases to the county circuit court. Judges in each municipality must verify that the courts are in compliance.

Most recently Foristell, a municipality of 500, located on I-70 in St. Charles and Warren Counties the auditor’s office reviewed warrant fees. In the past, Foristell issued a $100 warrant fee for individuals that failed to pay their fines or appear in court. In 2014, this practice generated more than $65,000. Foristell has since stopped this practice.

Further Foristell had bookkeeping errors and other practices that may impair impartiality or damage credibility. Plea agreements were not always signed by the prosecuting attorney and the court issued two fees related to a failure to appear.

Also investigated was the municipality of St. Ann. St. Ann is located by the St. Louis Airport on I-70. Here, the auditor questioned a bond processing fee which had resulting in $38,000. Again the city has dropped the practice, even though they state they had authority to collect the fees.  City officials stopped accepting cash bonds to reduce the need for those additional fees.

The Auditor’s office indicated that the process worked due to local officials taking immediate action to end collection of questionable fees after the issue was raised.

St. Louis Municipalities are seeing a drop in traffic ticket revenue

October 12, 2015

The St. Louis Area has had quite a bit of criticism over the years due to its municipal court system. The St. Louis area alone has over 81 different municipal courts. Each court has its own ordinances, court staff, judge and prosecutor. Many have their own police department tasked with upholding the laws of that specific municipality. In 2013, 10 of the 25 municipal courts with the most fines and fees per capita were in St. Louis County (2013). Further, 19 of the 25 courts that issued the most warrants per capita were in North St. Louis County.

Things are changing though. Recently the traffic reform bill went into effect limiting the amount of revenue municipalities can obtain through traffic tickets. The St. Louis area was specifically targeted and received a lower revenue cap than the rest of the state. This law went into effect at the end of August, but municipalities were lowering their ticket revenue from January to July of 2015.

From data that was self-reported by the municipal courts, overall the 81 municipal courts saw a 39% decrease in traffic cases filed and 38% decrease in money collected.

  • Ferguson filed just 1,330 traffic citations between January and July. Last year the number of tickets during that timeframe was 7,031. The Ferguson Municipal Court revenue fell by 58%.
  • St. Louis County municipal court which handles unincorporated areas with divisions in north, south and west saw a 70% drop in traffic cases files and revenue collected.
  • St. Louis County is running 20% behind the Kansas City area.  This is notable as St. Louis County has over 300,000 more residents than Kansas City.
  • Bellefontaine Neighbors entered mediation after it was revealed that the department punished officers for not writing enough tickets or “meeting their quota.” Revenue in that jurisdiction is down 42% and number of cases filed is down 70%. The police chief calls this a shift due to emphasizing the community driven “serve and protect” aspect of police work instead of just enforcing the law.
  • Berkeley is down 74% by reducing their traffic unit from 4 officers last year  to one this year.
  • St Ann is down 11%, but claims it is because the Missouri Department of Transportation ended the travel safe zone in 8/2014 that doubled fines for speeders.
  • Hanley Hills citations fell from 521 last year to just 101 this year. Last year they issued 708 warrants to only 199 this year.
  • Other places have started issuing warning instead of citations.

While some places are reducing the number of tickets written, others are issuing more.

  • In Kinloch in 2014, 453 tickets were issued and revenue was at $36,104. The 1st seven months of this year has seen those numbers rise to 616 tickets with revenue of $42,808. Kinloch police chief says the increase could be due to crime fluctuations. Kinloch has a strict no tolerance policy when it comes to illegal dumping. This type of non-traffic charge is not limited by the municipal reform measure. There are no limits on fines and individuals can be held on a cash bond. Non traffic matters do not count towards the revenue cap.
  • Sunset Hills, Dellwood, Crestwood, Manchester, Eureka and Maryland Heights have increased the number of tickets written from 2014 to 2015.
  • Sunset hills has increased its revenue collection by 37%.
  • Some court dismissed old cases, but Vinita Park reset them on the court calendar.

Missouri Municipal Reforms go into effect today August 28, 2015

August 28, 2015

Senate Bill #5 goes into effect today. This bill legislated sweeping reforms to the county and municipal courts in the State of Missouri. Specifically targeted at traffic violations, this law regulates income the courts can receive and penalties they may order for traffic violators.

The law prohibits fines for traffic violations to exceed $300 when combined with court costs. This appears to be per violation and not a max fine from any one individual. Failure to pay the fines will not result in incarceration as previously allowed. Further failure to appear and/or pay will not allow the courts to issue new charges for failure to appear.

Judge Thornhill of the Springfield Municipal Court was quoted as stating, “So therefore, in that situation when people owe money but don’t come in and pay, or don’t come in and tell us why our hands are tied.”

Counties and municipalities are permitted to seize income tax refunds for amounts owed in excess of $25.00. There do not appear to be provisions to prevent courts from requesting the Department of Revenue to suspend a violators license for failure to pay. Driving While Suspended charges carry 12 points and can be filed as misdemeanors.

The amount of operating revenue that a municipality or court is permitted to receive from traffic violations has been lowered from 30% to 20% for all areas of the State except St. Louis County and its municipalities. In St. Louis County the percentage of operating revenue has been lowered to 12.5%. Each county, town, city or village will be required to file with the State Auditor a report showing amounts of fines, bond forfeitures, and courts costs and the percentage of those moneys in relation to the general operating budget of the county, town, city or village. Failure to comply could result in a loss of sales tax revenue, or in extreme cases disincorporation.

 

 

Special Group Appointed to Review Missouri Municipal Court Practices

May 16, 2015

Headed by former Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justices, Edward D. Robertson, Jr and Ann K. Covington and Appellate Judge Booker t. Shaw, an eleven member group has been created by the Missouri Supreme Court to study municipal court practices and recommend improvements. Per an order from Chief Justice Mary R. Russell, the group will have a few public hearings.

After the Department of Justice report on municipal court practices, the Court felt it necessary to appoint this group to look into, among other things, the revenue raising for municipalities from the court system. This comes right on the heels of a recent General Assembly bill aimed at reducing the percentage of a city’s operating budget that comes from traffic fines.

We should expect a preliminary report by September 1, 2015 and the final by December 1, 2015.

Missouri Senate passes municipal court reform bill

May 11, 2015

The Missouri Senate came to a compromise this week on the amount they will allow municipals to generate from traffic ticket fines. However, a constitutional challenge is already being talked because the bill treats St. Louis County different from the rest of the state. The bill also eliminates failure to appear court fees, establishes payment plans, and limits the amount of time a person can be held after arrest with and without a warrant.

Compromise made in Municipal Court Bill
Revenue cap from tickets set at 12.5 percent for St. Louis County

The Missouri Legislature compromised this Wednesday on a bill that sets limits on how much revenue municipals can generate from traffic tickets.

The new deal worked out drops the original proposed cap to 12.5 percent, down from 15 percent, for cities in St. Louis County. The cap, originally set at 30 percent of general operating revenue statewide, calls for a new 20 percent limit for the rest of the state.

The Senate voted 31-3 to pass the bill Wednesday night. The House is expected to vote on a bill this week and send it to Gov. Jay Nixon.

The bill is a response to the killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, by a white police officer last August. Because the bill treats St. Louis County different from the rest of the state, some legislators believe it may be unconstitutional and likely challenged in court.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that more than a third of the county’s 90 cities appear to receive over 12 percent of their budgets from overall court fines and fees. Since the bill alters the definition of traffic revenue and operating revenue, it is difficult to determine which cities are affected.

Failure to appear fines

The bill also prevents cities from charging failure to appear in court fines. The fines, which could run from $75 or higher, quickly racked up costs on defendants and disincentivized them from taking care of their warrants and tickets altogether.

Safety Concerns

Some argue that eliminating revenue stream from traffic ticket could result in a cutback of police presence on roads, and hence a greater number of traffic accidents and deaths.

Enforcement

If it is determined that a cities’ ticket revenue exceeds the cap, the bill allows the state to intercept a city’s sales tax revenue if the city refuses to turn over any excess ticket revenue. That money would go to schools in the county where the city was located. The bill calls for a question to be placed on the ballot, asking local voters if they wanted to disincorporate the city.

Openness of process

Some cities have been known for holding proceedings in secret. Under this bill municipals would be required to hold court proceedings in courtrooms open and large enough to accommodate the public and those involved in cases.

Holdover time & payment plans

Individuals arrested on a traffic warrant involving a minor violation cannot be held longer than 48 hours under this bill, while a person arrested without a warrant cannot be held for more than 24 hours. Courts would have to provide for alternative payment plans and community service sentences.

Missouri Supreme Court to decide on camera tickets

December 4, 2014

On Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments on three separate cases regarding speeding and red light cameras. The cases involved red light camera tickets out of St. Louis City and St. Peters and speeding camera tickets out of Moline Acres. These three cases hit slightly different issues regarding the legality of camera tickets. The ordinances from these jurisdictions were overturned by lower courts that deemed them in violation of state law.

St. Louis City takes a picture of the license plate and issues the ticket to the owner of the vehicle. Proponents indicate that the over 50 intersection cameras free up the police and make the community safer. Police Chief Sam Dotson reasons that the cameras mean more officers are out patrolling neighborhoods instead of enforcing traffic laws. The opponents argue that the owner is only operating the vehicle 70-80% of the time. The onus is put on the owner to prove that s/he is not the driver instead of requiring the City Prosecutors to prove that a violation had occurred. While the St. Louis City tickets were overturned, the judge put a stay on the order to allow for the appeal. City is still issuing tickets; however, all fines collected are being placed in an escrow account pending the decision of the Missouri Supreme Court.

The cameras in St. Peters show the license plate and the driver. Pursuant to the attorneys for the city of St. Peters, the tickets are issued to the operator not necessarily the owner. These tickets do not assess points upon payment. The lower courts found the ordinance in violation of the Missouri Law that requires points to be assessed for a moving violation.

Moline Acres uses speeding cameras. Carl Lumley, attorney for Moline Acres, argues that the owners are ticketed for allowing their vehicles to speed. The citation is for not supervising their vehicle correctly not for speeding. Owners can attempt to prove that they did not give permission to the driver to operate the vehicle. Once again this places the burden of proof on the owner instead of the Prosecutors.

The legislature could have approved a proposal earlier this year that would have set forth a legal framework, but the proposed bills did not pass the May session. The Supreme Court decision will hopefully settle the uncertainty that currently follows on the camera tickets.  The decision will hopefully come out by the end of the year.

Kirksville Municipal Court Traffic Information

September 8, 2012

Kirksville Municipal Court
Adair County

General Information:
Phoebe Powell Herrin, Municipal Judge

Linda Sandstrom, Court Clerk
201 S. Franklin
City Hall
Kirksville, MO 63501
(660) 627-1237 
(660) 627-7941(facsimile)
http://www.kirksvillecity.com/
Hours: 8:00 – 5:00