Chief Justice Patricia Breckenridge [official profile] of the Missouri Supreme Court announced [text] at the joint annual meeting of the Missouri Bar and the Judicial Conference in Lake Ozark on Thursday new mandatory standards of practice and procedure for municipal courts within the state. The new mandatory standards are being imposed as a response to the many accusations levied against the municipal courts. The Chief Justice made specific references in this regard to media headlines concerning violations of civil rights and disparate treatment between individuals of different levels of income, race or both. The Chief Justice’s own personal observations during unannounced visits to the various regional courts revealed, among other things: that courts had been closing every weekday much earlier than the required hours of operation; prohibition against entry of children into courtrooms; inadequate separation of powers between the police and staff members of the courts; and inappropriate seating of prosecutors behind the bench with the judge during proceedings, raising concerns of conflict of interest. The Chief Justice stated: “I experienced first-hand what citizens in our state must encounter every day. I felt frustrated and angry.”

The Chief Justice announced minimum operating standards [order, PDF] requiring municipal courts to: 1) ensure that individuals detained are so held in custody in strict compliance with the principles of due process of law; 2) permit individuals to present any information on their capacity or lack thereof to pay court costs and fines; 3) not condition access to judicial hearing or probationary grant on payment of fines and costs; 4) not collect unauthorized fines, costs, or surcharges; 5) lawfully select authorized, educated, qualified and adequately prepared and trained judges; 6) operate municipal divisions in a manner reasonably convenient to the public; 7) operate municipal division in such a manner as to uphold “the constitutional principles of separation of powers and the integrity of the judiciary as a separate and independent branch of government;” 8) operate the municipal divisions “in accordance with the constitutional principles and legal requirements of open courts and open records;” 9) notify litigants and other concerned individuals of their appropriate rights; and 10) maintain appropriate oversight of municipal divisions through the circuit court presiding judges of the respective judicial circuits. The minimum operating standards also require adherence to various other subsets of rules both within and outside of the standards mentioned above. Acknowledging that some of these standards may be unpopular, the Chief Justice expressed hope that they can affect “meaningful improvement” in court practices.