FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1
90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR SCHNEIDER.
Pre-filed December 1, 1998, and 1,000 copies ordered printed.
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
S0493.02I
AN ACT
To repeal sections 57.130, 211.453, 211.477, 476.682 and 477.087, RSMo 1994, and sections 57.280, 105.464, 488.015, 506.363, 506.369, 506.372, 506.375 and 506.390, RSMo Supp. 1998, relating to the judiciary, and to enact in lieu thereof thirteen new sections relating to the same subject, with an expiration date for a certain section.
Section A. Sections 57.130, 211.453, 211.477, 476.682 and 477.087, RSMo 1994, and sections 57.280, 105.464, 488.015, 506.363, 506.369, 506.372, 506.375 and 506.390, RSMo Supp. 1998, are repealed and thirteen new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 57.130, 57.280, 105.464, 211.453, 211.477, 476.682, 477.087, 488.015, 506.363, 506.369, 506.372, 506.375 and 506.390, to read as follows:
57.130. 1. The sheriffs of the several counties shall collect and account for all the fines, penalties, forfeitures and other sums of money, by whatever name designated, accruing to the state or any county by virtue of any order, judgment or decree of a court of record, provided that by court rule provision may be made for a court clerk to collect fines, penalties, forfeitures and other sums of money accruing to the state by virtue of any order, judgment or decree of the court.
2. The provisions of this section shall expire and be of no force and effect on and after July 1, 2002.
57.280. 1. Sheriffs shall receive a charge for service of any summons, writ or other order of court, in connection with any civil case, and making on the same either a return indicating service, a non est return or a nulla bona return, the sum of twenty dollars for each item to be served, except that a sheriff shall receive a charge for service of any subpoena, and making a return on the same, the sum of ten dollars; however, no such charge shall be collected in any proceeding when court costs are to be paid by the state, county or municipality. In addition to such charge, the sheriff shall be entitled to receive for each mile actually traveled in serving any summons, writ, subpoena or other order of court, the rate prescribed by the Internal Revenue Service for all allowable expenses for motor vehicle use expressed as an amount per mile, provided that such mileage shall not be charged for more than one subpoena or summons or other writ served in the same cause on the same trip. All of such charges shall be received by the sheriff who is requested to perform the service. Except as otherwise provided by law, all charges made pursuant to this section shall be collected by the court clerk as court costs and are payable prior to the time the service is rendered; provided that if the amount of such charge cannot be readily determined, then the sheriff shall receive a deposit based upon the likely amount of such charge, and the balance of such charge shall be payable immediately upon ascertainment of the proper amount of said charge. A sheriff may refuse to perform any service in any action or proceeding, other than when court costs are waived as provided by law, until the charge provided by this section is paid. Failure to receive the charge shall not affect the validity of the service.
2. The sheriff shall receive for receiving and paying moneys on execution or other process, where lands or goods have been levied and advertised and sold, five percent on five hundred dollars and four percent on all sums above five hundred dollars, and half of these sums, when the money is paid to the sheriff without a levy, or where the lands or goods levied on shall not be sold and the money is paid to the sheriff or person entitled thereto, his agent or attorney. The party at whose application any writ, execution, subpoena or other process has issued from the [supreme] court shall pay the sheriff's costs for the removal, transportation, storage, safekeeping and support of any property to be seized pursuant to legal process before such seizure [and]. The sheriff shall [cause the same to be returned without charge unless the court shall, for special reasons, order the personal attendance of the sheriff, in which case he shall] be allowed for each mile, going and returning from the courthouse of the county in which he resides to the place where the court is held, the rate prescribed by the Internal Revenue Service for all allowable expenses for motor vehicle use expressed as an amount per mile.
3. The sheriff upon the receipt of the charge herein provided for shall pay into the treasury of the county any and all charges received pursuant to the provisions of this section; however, in any county, any funds, not to exceed fifty thousand dollars in any calendar year, other than as a result of regular budget allocations or land sale proceeds, coming into the possession of the sheriff's office, such as from the sale of recovered evidence, shall be held in a fund established by the county treasurer, which may be expended at the discretion of the sheriff for the furtherance of the sheriff's set duties. Any such funds in excess of fifty thousand dollars, other than regular budget allocations or land sale proceeds, shall be placed to the credit of the general revenue fund of the county. Moneys in the fund shall be used only for the procurement of services and equipment to support the operation of the sheriff's office. Moneys in the fund established pursuant to this subsection shall not lapse to the county general revenue fund at the end of any county budget or fiscal year.
105.464. 1. No person serving in a judicial or quasi-judicial capacity shall participate in such capacity in any proceeding in which:
(1) The person knows that a party is any of the following: the person or the person's great-grandparent, grandparent, parent, stepparent, guardian, foster parent, spouse, former spouse, child, stepchild, foster child, ward, niece, nephew, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, or cousin, or any firm or corporation in which the person has an ownership interest, or any trust in which the person has any legal, equitable or beneficial interest;
(2) The person knows the subject matter is such that the person may receive a direct, or indirect as defined by the canons of judicial conduct, financial gain from any potential result of the proceeding, except that no provision in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit the person from participating in any proceeding by reason of the fact that the state, or any agency of the state, or any agency of a political subdivision thereof, is a party.
2. No provision in the section shall be construed to prohibit him from entering an order disqualifying himself or herself or transferring the matter to another court, body, or person for further proceedings.
211.453. 1. Service of summons shall be made as in other civil cases in the manner prescribed in section 506.150, RSMo. However, if service cannot be made as prescribed in section 506.150, RSMo, and it is not waived, then the service shall be made by mail or publication as provided in section 506.160, RSMo.
2. Persons who shall be summoned and receive a copy of the petition shall include:
(1) The parent of the child, including a putative father who has acknowledged the child as his own by affirmatively asserting his paternity, unless the parent has filed a consent to the termination of parental rights in court;
(2) The guardian of the person of the child;
(3) The person, agency or organization having custody of the child;
(4) The foster parent, relative or other person with whom the child has been placed; and
(5) Any other person whose presence the court deems necessary.
3. The court shall not require service in the case of a parent whose identity is unknown and cannot be ascertained, or cannot be located.
4. Any person required to receive summons may waive appearance or service of summons.
211.477. 1. If, after the dispositional hearing, the court finds that one or more of the grounds set out in section 211.447 exists or that the parent has consented to the termination pursuant to section 211.444 and that it is in the best interests of the child, the court may terminate the rights of the parent in and to the child. After ordering termination and after consideration of the social study and report, the court shall transfer legal custody to:
(1) The division of family services;
(2) A private child-placing agency;
(3) A foster parent, relative or other person participating in the proceedings pursuant to section 211.464; or
(4) Any other person or agency the court deems suitable to care for the child.
2. If only one parent consents or if the conditions specified in section 211.447 are found to exist as to only one parent, the rights of only that parent with reference to the child may be terminated and the rights of the other parent shall not be affected.
3. The court may order termination whether or not the child is in adoptive placement or an adoptive placement is available for the child.
4. If, after the dispositional hearing, the court finds that one or more of the grounds set out in section 211.447 exists, but that termination is not in the best interests of the child because the court finds that the child would benefit from the continued parent-child relationship or because the child is fourteen or more years of age and objects to the termination, the court may:
(1) Dismiss the petition and order that the child be returned to the custody of the parent;
(2) Retain jurisdiction of the case and order that the child be placed in the legal custody of the parent, the division, a private child-caring or placing agency, a foster parent, relative or other suitable person who is able to provide long-term care for the child. Any order of the court under this subdivision shall designate the period of time it shall remain in effect, with mandatory review by the court no later than six months thereafter. The court shall also specify what residual rights and responsibilities remain with the parent. Any individual granted legal custody shall exercise the rights and responsibilities personally unless otherwise authorized by the court; or
(3) Appoint a guardian under the provisions of chapter 475, RSMo.
5. Orders of the court issued pursuant to sections 211.442 to 211.487 shall recite the jurisdictional facts, factual findings on the existence of grounds for termination and that the best interests of the child [is] are served by the disposition stated in the order. [The order shall be a final order after thirty days from the date of its entry for purposes of and subject to the rights of appeal.]
476.682. 1. Any person assigned as a senior judge pursuant to section 26 of article V of the Missouri Constitution shall receive for each day of service an amount [that when added to the daily amount of annual compensation, salary or retirement compensation payable pursuant to sections 476.450 to 476.595, equals one hundred] equal to fifty percent of the current annual salary of the office from which the judge retired attributable to one day of service. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no senior judge shall receive less daily compensation than an amount, that when added to the daily amount of annual compensation payable pursuant to sections 476.450 to 476.595, is less than one hundred percent of the current annual salary of the office from which the judge retired attributable to one day of service. For purposes of this subsection, one year shall equal two hundred thirty-five days. No senior judge shall receive compensation pursuant to this subsection in a total amount that when such compensation is added to the annual compensation, salary or retirement compensation payable pursuant to sections 476.450 to 476.595, the sum is greater than the current annual salary of the office from which the judge retired.
2. A senior judge assigned pursuant to section 26 of article V of the Missouri Constitution for service outside the county where he resides shall be reimbursed for his travel and other actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his services.
3. On or before the tenth day of each month a senior judge shall certify to the state courts administrator the period during the previous month during which he was assigned services and, if such services were completed, the date thereof and at the same time shall certify his expenses incurred and allowable under this section. The state courts administrator shall then issue a warrant to the state treasurer for the payment of the salary and expenses to the extent and within limitations provided for in this section. The state treasurer upon receipt of such warrant shall pay the same out of any appropriations made for this purpose on the last day of the month during which the warrant was received by him.
4. On or before the twentieth day of each month the state courts administrator shall certify the period of service reported by each senior judge pursuant to subsection 3 of this section to the Missouri state employees' retirement system. Any senior judge accumulating two hundred thirty-five days of such service shall receive credit for one year of judicial service for purposes of sections 476.520 and 476.545, for each two hundred thirty-five days of service certified by the state courts administrator to the Missouri state employees' retirement system, except, if a pro rata portion of two hundred thirty-five days would cause the senior judge's total judicial service to equal twelve years, the Missouri state employees' retirement system shall credit the service at the time the pro rata portion is certified. Upon receipt of such certification, the retirement benefit of the senior judge shall be recalculated to reflect the attainment of twelve years; the adjusted benefit will become effective the first of the month following certification.
5. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 476.510 or 476.565, no person shall receive benefits pursuant to the provisions of this section if the person is engaged in the private practice of law or doing a law business.
6. The judicial conference of the state of Missouri shall annually report on the use of senior judges pursuant to this section. Such report shall include at least the number of senior judges assigned, the number of cases assigned and disposed of by senior judges, and the expenditures made for that purpose.
477.087. 1. The official station of each judge of the supreme court and court of appeals may be the locus of the court of which the judge is a member or any circuit court county courthouse located where the judge maintains an actual abode in which the judge customarily lives or at any other office in that county.
2. The presiding judge of the judicial circuit in which a judge of the supreme court or court of appeals has his official station may provide suitable office space, if available, upon request by a judge of the supreme court or court of appeals for use by the judge and the judge's staff personnel.
3. Each judge of the supreme court and court of appeals, upon appointment and from time to time thereafter as changes occur, shall notify the state courts administrator in writing of the judge's official station, if other than the city of the locus of the court of which the judge is a member.
4. Judges of the supreme court and court of appeals and their staff shall [not] be entitled to any state allowances for official travel and mileage to or from their official station and the locus of the court on which the judge sits.
488.015. The court shall not increase the amount of miscellaneous charges or surcharges allowed by law. The amounts of fees payable to the state of Missouri may be annually adjusted as provided in section 488.012 to the extent that projected total collections for all such fees shall not exceed one hundred four percent of such fees assessed or assessable during the previous year less the amount of such assessed fees attributable to any increase in the judiciary's caseload, provided that the amount of the adjusted fee attributable to each case may be rounded to the nearest dollar. [The supreme court may annually adjust each cost, fee, charge or surcharge so that projected total collections for that cost, fee, charge or surcharge will total an amount not to exceed one hundred four percent of the previous year's collections for that cost, fee, charge or surcharge, provided that the adjusted cost, fee, charge or surcharge shall be rounded to the nearest ten cents. In the event that the total collections for any cost, fee, charge or surcharge exceeds one hundred four percent of the previous year's collections, the supreme court shall reduce such cost, fee, charge or surcharge so that the projected total collections for the coming year shall be decreased by the amount of excess in the preceding year.] The supreme court rule may provide that in the event that any payment of court costs is made in time or installment payments or by credit card or similar method, the clerk may charge an additional fee for such time or installment payments or in order to reflect any transaction cost, surcharge or fee imposed on the recipient of the credit card payment by the credit card company. Any change in the amount of fees made by the court pursuant to this section shall take effect on July first of any particular year, provided that the proposed supreme court rule or amendment to a supreme court rule changing the amount of fees shall be published on or before January first of the year in which the rule or amendment is proposed to take effect. Any such rule may be annulled or amended in whole or part in the manner provided by section 5 of article V of the Constitution of the state of Missouri. Any changes in the amount of fees made by the court pursuant to sections 488.010 to 488.020 shall be presented to the general assembly on or before January first of the year in which the rule or amendment is proposed to take effect.
506.363. For the purposes of sections 506.360 to 506.390, "offender" and "correctional center" [are] shall have the same meaning as defined in section 217.010, RSMo; and the terms "court costs" and "fees" shall have the same meaning as defined in section 488.010, RSMo.
506.369. 1. [The court shall order the offender to pay the full amount of the filing fee.] If the court receiving a motion pursuant to section 506.366 determines that an offender is unable to pay the full amount of court costs due with respect to a case, the court shall assess a partial payment of the [filing fee which shall be] fees in the amount of twenty percent of the greater of the following:
(1) The average monthly deposits to the offender's account for the six-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint or notice of appeal requiring the payment of a fee; or
(2) The average monthly balance in the offender's account for the six-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint or notice of appeal requiring the payment of a fee.
2. [If the balance in the offender's account is less than the amount assessed as the initial partial filing fee, the court shall enter judgment against the offender for the full amount of the filing fee. Payment of such judgment shall be made pursuant to section 506.372.] If a trial court has entered an order pursuant to subsection 1 of this section upon the filing of plaintiff's petition, the determination of the court shall apply to the case until final judgment is entered by either the trial or an appellate court.
506.372. [Following payment of an initial partial filing fee, or] If the court has entered [judgment for the initial partial filing fee] an order for payment of fees in installments pursuant to section 506.369, the offender shall make monthly payments to the department of corrections of twenty percent of the preceding month's income credited to the offender's account until the [filing] fees are paid in full. The [correctional facility having custody of the offender] department of corrections shall forward payments from the offender's account to the [clerk of the court] department of revenue for deposit to the general revenue fund until the [filing] fees are paid in full. The department of corrections shall establish written guidelines for the priority of payment consistent with state and federal law.
506.375. Notwithstanding any [filing fee] court costs which [has] have been paid, the court shall dismiss an offender's civil action or appeal from a judgment in a civil action at any time, including before service on the defendant, if the court determines any of the following:
(1) The allegation of indigency is untrue;
(2) The litigation is frivolous, malicious or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted; or
(3) The defendant is immune from the cause of action.
506.390. Before payment of any compensatory damages awarded to an offender in connection with a civil action brought against any correctional facility or against any official or agent of such correctional facility, the attorney general shall make reasonable efforts [shall be made] to notify the victims of the crime for which the offender was convicted and incarcerated concerning the pending payment of any such compensatory damages.