§ 479.359 — Political subdivisions to annually calculate percentage of revenue from municipal ordinance violations and minor traffic violations — limitation on percentage — addendum to report, contents.

Missouri § 479.359

• Jurisdiction: Missouri
• Title XXXII: COURTS
• Ch. 479: Municipal Courts and Traffic Courts

Text

1.  Every county, city, town, and village shall annually calculate the percentage of its annual general operating revenue received from fines, bond forfeitures, and court costs for municipal ordinance violations and minor traffic violations, including amended charges for any municipal ordinance violations and minor traffic violations, whether the violation was prosecuted in municipal court, associate circuit court, or circuit court, occurring within the county, city, town, or village.  If the percentage is more than thirty percent, the excess amount shall be sent to the director of the department of revenue.  The director of the department of revenue shall set forth by rule a procedure whereby excess revenues as set forth in this section shall be sent to the department of revenue.  The department of revenue shall distribute these moneys annually to the schools of the county in the same manner that proceeds of all fines collected for any breach of the penal laws of this state are distributed.

2.  Beginning January 1, 2016, the percentage specified in subsection 1 of this section shall be reduced from thirty percent to twenty percent, unless any county, city, town, or village has a fiscal year beginning on any date other than January first, in which case the reduction shall begin on the first day of the immediately following fiscal year except that any county with a charter form of government and with more than nine hundred fifty thousand inhabitants and any city, town, or village with boundaries found within such county shall be reduced from thirty percent to twelve and one-half percent.

3.  An addendum to the annual financial report submitted to the state auditor under section 105.145 by the county, city, town, or village that has chosen to have a municipal court division shall contain an accounting of:

(1)  Annual general operating revenue as defined in section 479.350 ;

(2)  The total revenues from fines, bond forfeitures, and court costs for municipal ordinance violations and minor traffic violations occurring within the county, city, town, or village, including amended charges from any municipal ordinance violations and minor traffic violations;

(3)  The percent of annual general operating revenue from fines, bond forfeitures, and court costs for municipal ordinance violations and minor traffic violations occurring within the county, city, town, or village, including amended charges from any charged municipal ordinance violations and minor traffic violation, charged in the municipal court of that county, city, town, or village; and

(4)  Said addendum shall be certified and signed by a representative with knowledge of the subject matter as to the accuracy of the addendum contents, under oath and under the penalty of perjury, and witnessed by a notary public.

4.  On or before December 31, 2015, the state auditor shall set forth by rule a procedure for including the addendum information required by this section.  The rule shall also allow reasonable opportunity for demonstration of compliance without unduly burdensome calculations.

Legislative History

(L. 2015 S.B. 5, A.L. 2016 S.B. 572) (2017) Population classification in section will only apply to St. Louis County for the foreseeable future, and as the State failed to demonstrate substantial justification for such special treatment, the classification is unconstitutional as a special law in violation of Article III, Section 40(30).  Classification is severed from remainder of section, and thus section imposes a uniform cap on fines, bond forfeitures, and court costs of 20 percent statewide.  City of Normandy v. Greitens, 518 S.W.3d 183 (Mo.).