22-038 - 1R.  An ordinance creating Section 1.22.022 of the City Code to allow for the collection of a Seven Dollar fee, as part of court costs, on individual Municipal Court cases, for remittance to the Statewide Court Automation Fund.

Section 476.055, RSMo. established the Statewide Court Automation Fund and the 
court automation committee to administer said fund and to develop and implement a plan for the statewide court automation system. Section 488.027, RSMo. established that a fee would be added to court costs for civil and criminal cases including cases for municipal ordinance violations or traffic violations for the Statewide Court Automation Fund. Section 488.012.3(5), RSMo. established that said fee added to court costs would be seven dollars.

Article V, Section 4, of the Constitution of the State of Missouri, grants the Supreme 
Court of the State of Missouri control over all Missouri courts. Section 479.020, RSMo. states that municipal judges are divisions of the circuit court in which the municipality is located. The Municipal Court of the City of Independence is part of the 16th Judicial Circuit Court. Supreme Court Operating Rule 1.01 gives the court automation committee decision-making authority for all aspects of statewide court automation. Supreme Court Operation Rule 4.01 allows the use of an existing records systems until such time as the statewide court automation system is available in that division. The 16th Judicial Circuit Court, for purposes of implementation of the statewide court automation system, has been deemed to be part of the NW Region.