Missouri Senate

House Committee Substitute

JOINT COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY AND JUSTICE

The act creates a permanent joint committee of the General Assembly to be known as the Joint Committee on Judiciary and Justice. The Committee shall consist of members of the General Assembly and three ex officio members. The Committee is charged with reviewing of all aspects of the state's justice system and making any recommendations for legislative changes to the General Assembly. A permanent subcommittee of the Committee shall be established to periodically review the criminal code. An advisory committee is established to aid the subcommittee, consisting of representatives of the Missouri Supreme Court, the Attorney General, and other individuals known to be interested in the improvement of the state's criminal laws (21.880).

This provision is identical to provisions contained in SB 575 (2014).

REGIONAL JUSTICE INFORMATION SERVICE

The act designates the Regional Justice Information Service as a "Criminal Justice Agency" for the purposes of federal law. The Agency shall have the power to facilitate criminal identification activities, provide criminal history, and perform any other related functions not inconsistent with law (43.675).

This provision is identical to HB 2128 (2014).

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

This act provides that a special prosecutor appointed because the prosecutor and assistant prosecutor have a conflict of interest may not be employed by anyone except the state in any criminal proceeding. It also specifies that a special prosecutor is to be considered an appointed prosecutor for purposes of a statute making it a misdemeanor for a prosecutor to engage in such employment (56.110).

Under this act, the same judge can hear a preliminary hearing and the trial of a felony case if the defendant has signed a written waiver permitting the same judge to hear both (478.240).

These provisions are identical to provisions contained in SB 793 (2014).

PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS AND CIRCUIT ATTORNEYS' RETIREMENT SYSTEM

Currently, each county must transfer a certain sum of money to the Prosecuting Attorneys and Circuit Attorneys' Retirement System Fund. The act provides that each county's contribution shall be adjusted in accordance with the retirement system's funded ratio and a schedule provided in the act (56.807).

The act also states that a four dollar surcharge, payable to the retirement system, shall be assessed in cases where a person pleads guilty and pays a fine through a fine collection center (56.807, 488.026).

These provisions are substantially similar to provisions contained in HCS/HB 1231 (2014), HCS/SCS/SB 672 (2014), and HB 1821 (2014), and identical to provisions contained in HCS/SB 615 (2014).

JEFFERSON COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT

The act modifies the county description of Jefferson County in provisions of law which allow Jefferson and Franklin Counties to prosecute violations of county orders in a county municipal court (67.320).

This provision is identical to provisions contained in HB 1921 (2014) and HCS/SB 614 (2014).

INTEREST ON JUDGEMENTS

The act provides a definition for the term "judgment balance" and states that post-judgment payments shall be applied first to post-judgment costs, then to interest, and then to judgment balance (408.040).

This provision is identical to provisions contained in HCS/HB 1612 (2014).

GUARDIANSHIP FORM

The act states that by January 1, 2015 the Missouri Supreme Court shall develop a form petition of the appointment of a guardian for a minor to be used in uncontested guardianship cases (475.072).

This provision is similar to HB 1205 (2014) and identical to HCS/HB 1231 (2014).

JUDICIAL RESOURCES AND JUDICIAL CONFERENCE

Current law states that it is the purpose of certain listed sections of law to provide the General Assembly and the Supreme Court with the mechanisms to obtain a comprehensive analysis of judicial resources and an efficient method for identifying problems and allocating personnel and resources within the judicial system. This act adds and repeals specific sections of law from this list of sections (476.001).

The act removes commissioners of the Supreme Court as members of the Judicial Conference. Under the act, the Conference shall meet every odd numbered year (476.320, 476.330, 476.340).

THIRTEENTH CIRCUIT DRUG COURT COMMISSIONER

The act reinstitutes the thirteenth circuit's authority to appoint a drug court commissioner (478.610).

This provision is identical to provisions contained in HCS/HB 1231 (2014) and HCS/HB 1448 (2014).

THIRTY-FIRST JUDICIAL CIRCUIT SURCHARGE

This act provides that a surcharge of up to ten dollars may be collected in all criminal proceedings filed in the Thirty-First Judicial Circuit if the surcharge was authorized by a county or municipal order, ordinance, or resolution.

The moneys collected from the surcharge must be use for the costs associated with the construction, maintenance and operation of any county or municipal judicial facility (488.2206).

These provisions are identical to SB 915 (2014), HCS/SB 615 (2014), and SCS/HB 1238 (2014).

GARNISHMENTS

Under the act, clerks of circuit courts are authorized to collect a surcharge of up to ten dollars when processing garnishments and money from the surcharge is to be used to maintain and improve case processing and record preservation (488.305).

The act adds language which provides that notice of garnishment shall have the effect of attaching all personal property at the time of service or in the case of a continuous wage garnishment, until the judgment is paid in full, or until the employment relationship is terminated.

Garnishments which would otherwise have equal priority shall have priority according to the date of service, and when wages have been attached by more than one writ of garnishment then the employer must inform the inferior garnisher of the other garnishments (525.040).

When applicable, a garnishee may discharge himself by paying the money or giving the property owed to the defendant to the attorney for the party on whose behalf the order of garnishment was issued, when applicable. Additionally, the court may order the delivery of the defendant's property possessed by the garnishee to the attorney for the party on whose behalf the order of garnishment was issued (525.070, 525.080).

The act allows the garnishee to deduct up to twenty dollars, or a fee previously agreed upon between the garnishee and judgment debtor when the garnishee is a financial institution, for expenses in answering interrogatories and withholding the funds. The garnishee may also file a motion with the court to obtain additional costs incurred in answering the interrogatories (525.230).

The act modifies provisions relating to the issuance of a writ of sequestration. Under current law, the wages of state government employees are not subject to direct garnishment, and instead must be collected under a process called sequestration. This act provides that sovereign immunity shall be waived for the purposes of garnishing the pay of employees who work for the state or a political subdivision, and that the government employer shall have the same duties as a private employer when served with a garnishment order. The act repeals language requiring a writ of sequestration when the judgment debtor is a government employee, and provides that all garnishments against such employees shall proceed in the same manner as any other garnishment proceedings (525.310).

These provisions are identical to provisions contained in HCS/HB 1612 (2014), HCS/SCS/SB 672 (2014), and similar to provisions contained in HB 204 (2013) and SS/SCS/HCS/HB 374 & 434 (2013).

SEARCH WARRANT FOR LOCATION INFORMATION OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE

This act prohibits government entities from obtaining the location information of an electronic device without a search warrant. Violators of the act are subject to a $50 fine.

This act allows a government entity to obtain the location information of an electronic device if it is reported stolen, to respond to a call for emergency services, with informed consent, or when a possible life-threatening situation exists.

Evidence obtained in violation of the act is inadmissible in a civil, criminal, or administrative proceeding and cannot be used in an affidavit for a search warrant (542.375).

These provisions are identical to HB 1388 (2014), and substantially similar to SCS/HB 1388 (2014).

SEXUALLY VIOLENT PREDATORS

The act provides that a conviction in this state or any other jurisdiction for a sexually violent offense can be considered when determining if a person is a sexually violent predator for the purposes of confinement and treatment (632.480, 632.483, 632.484).

These provisions are identical to HB 1741 (2014) and provisions contained in HCS/SB 621 (2014).

CYBER CRIME INVESTIGATION FUND

Currently, the Cyber Crime Investigation Fund and its disbursement program expired on June 5, 2012. This act extends the existence of the fund and the program until August 28, 2024, and repeals the provision of law requiring three million dollars to be appropriate to the fund each year.

The act adds that money from the fund shall be used to pay the salaries of assistant prosecuting and circuit attorneys whose focus is investigating Internet sex crimes against children. The act also adds the executive director of the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services as a member of the panel which awards grants regarding cyber crime law enforcement (650.120).

This provision is identical to HB 1906 (2014), and provisions contained in HCS/HB 1448 (2014).

COSTS IN CRIMINAL CASES

The act repeals provisions of law requiring the state to pay the costs of a capital case when imprisonment is the sole punishment and the defendant is acquitted, and that in all other trials on indictments the costs shall be paid by the county if the defendant is acquitted (550.040).

The act also repeals a provision of law which provides that the prosecutor or the person on whose oath the prosecution was commenced to be liable for all the court costs in any case where a person must be committed or recognized to answer for a felony and no indictment is issued against the person (550.060).

These provisions are identical to provisions contained in HCS/HB 1448 (2014).

JESSICA BAKER