CCS/HCS/SB 615 - This act modifies provisions of law relating to court costs, civil fines, the Sunshine Law, immunity for law enforcement officers, judgeships, the crime of disarming of a peace officer, and court procedure.CIVIL FINES IN BUCHANAN COUNTY
The act adds Buchanan County to the list of counties authorized to impose a civil fine of up to one thousand dollars for each violation of any county rule, regulation, or ordinance (49.272).
This provision is identical to HB 1348 (2014) and to provisions contained in HCS/HB 2112 (2014).
LAW ENFORCEMENT IMMUNITY
The act states that law enforcement officers shall have immunity from criminal and civil liability while conducting service of process at the direction of the court to the extent that the officers' actions do not violate clearly established rights of which a reasonable person would have known (57.095).
This provision is identical to the truly agreed to and finally passed versions of SB 672 (2014), HB 1231 (2014), and SB 621 (2014).
OSCA HANDBOOK
Currently, each court must mail a handbook created by the Office of State Courts Administrator to individuals involved in a dissolution of marriage proceeding involving minor children. This act specifies that the court must "provide" the handbook to each party to the dissolution rather than "mail" (452.556).
This provision is identical to provisions in the truly agreed to and finally passed versions of HB 1231 (2014) and SB 621 (2014).
SCHEDULE OF FINES COMMITTEE
Currently, a committee consisting of associate circuit judges establishes and maintains a schedule of fines to be paid for the violation of certain sections of law. This act repeals from this list Section 210.104, which was repealed in 2006 by Senate Bill 872 (476.385).
The act also repeals section 476.385, dually enacted by SB 23 (2013).
ADDITIONAL JUDGESHIPS
This act repeals provisions of law which state that when a judicial weighted workload indicates for three consecutive years that a judicial circuit with a population of one-hundred thousand or more is in need of four or more full-time judicial positions, then there shall be one additional associate circuit judge position in such circuit(section 478.320).
Currently, the twenty-first judicial circuit has nineteen circuit judges. This act provides that the twenty-first circuit shall have twenty circuit judges which shall sit in twenty divisions. The twenty-first circuit shall also have an additional associate circuit judge which shall be in addition to the associate circuit judges provided for under the current statutory formula (478.437).
Currently, the sixteenth judicial circuit has nine associate circuit judges with five of the judges located in Kansas City and four of the judges located in independence. The act states that the sixteenth judicial circuit shall have ten associate circuit judges, which shall sit in divisions numbered 25 through 34. The 34th division shall sit in a location determined by the court en banc. This tenth associate circuit judge position shall not be included in the statutory formula for authorizing additional associate circuit judgeships under current law (478.464).
The act provides the thirty-first judicial circuit with an additional associate circuit judge, and specifies that the additional associate circuit judges awarded in fiscal years 2014 and 2015 shall not be included in the statutory formula for authorizing additional associate circuit judgeships under current law (478.513).
The act states that in the eleventh judicial circuit there shall be an additional associate circuit judge position. This position shall be elected in 2016, and shall not be included in the statutory formula for authorizing additional associate circuit judgeships under current law (478.600).
The thirty-eighth circuit shall have two circuit judges. The circuit judge in division two shall be elected in 2016, and such position shall not be considered vacant until January 1, 2017. The judge in division one shall be elected in 2018 (478.740).
There is an emergency clause for these provisions.
These provisions are identical to provisions in the truly agreed to and finally passed versions of HB 1231 (2014) and SB 621 (2014).
REMOVING DOCUMENTS FROM THE COURT FILE
The act prohibits the adoption of local court rule which grants a judge the discretion to remove a communication, pleading, or file from a court file without the agreement of all parties (483.140).
This provision is similar to provisions contained in the truly agreed to and finally passed versions of HB 1665 (2014) and HB 1553 (2014), and identical to provisions in the truly agreed to and finally passed version of HB 1231 (2014).
OVERPAYMENT OF COURT COSTS
The act also provides that municipalities may retain the court costs that have been overpaid to the municipal court and do not exceed five dollars (488.014).
This provision is identical to provisions contained in the truly agreed to and finally passed version of HB 1231 (2014).
FRANKLIN COUNTY SURCHARGE
Currently, Franklin County may collect an additional ten dollar surcharge in civil cases excluding cases concerning adoption and those in small claims until December 31, 2014. The act extends this date to December 31, 2019 (488.426).
This provision is identical to provisions in the truly agreed to and finally passed version of HB 1238 (2014).
SURCHARGE IN CITIES OR COUNTIES WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS
Currently, cities or counties with domestic violence shelters can add a surcharge of two dollars for criminal cases. This act states that a surcharge of up to four dollars may be collected for each criminal case in cities or counties with domestic violence shelters (488.607).
This provision is identical to SCS/SB 636 (2014) and to provisions contained in the truly agreed to and finally passed version of HB 1238 (2014), and substantially similar to SB 313 (2013) and provisions of HCS/HB 717 (2013).
THIRTY-FIRST CIRCUIT SURCHARGE
The 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).
This provision is identical to provisions contained in the truly agreed to and finally passed versions of HB 1231 (2014), HB 1238 (2014), and SB 621 (2014), and similar to SB 915 (2014) and SCS/HB 1553 (2014).
KANSAS CITY MUNICIPAL COURT SURCHARGE
The act specifies that Kansas City may charge five dollars in each municipal ordinance violation case. The judge may waive the surcharge for indigent defendants. The surcharge shall be used towards the restoration, maintenance, and upkeep of the municipal courthouse (488.2235).
This provision is identical to provisions contained in HCS/SCS/SB 854 (2014), HCS/SCS/SB 824 (2014), and the truly agreed to and finally passed version of HB 1238 (2014), and similar to HB 1738 (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) and the truly agreed to and finally passed version of SB 621 (2014), and similar to SB 793 (2014).
DISARMING A PEACE OFFICER
The act modifies the crime of disarming a peace officer by adding language which provides that a person commits such crime if the person intentionally removes a less-lethal weapon from a peace officer including blunt impact, chemical or conducted energy devices used in the performance of the officer's duties or if the person intentionally deprives the peace officer of such equipment while the officer is acting within the scope of his or her duties (575.153).
This provision is identical to HB 2190 (2014) and to provisions contained in HCS/HB 1540 (2014), HCS/HB 2116 (2014), and the truly agreed to and finally passed versions of SB 656 (2014) and HB 1231 (2014).
CLOSED RECORDS
Individually identifiable records submitted to the Lieutenant Governor concerning reports of waste, fraud and abuse of public resources may be closed for the purposes of the Sunshine Law (610.021).
FAXING OR MAILING ENTRY OF APPEARANCE
A court which mandates electronic filing must accept an entry of appearance mailed or faxed to the court and such entry may be no more than one page in length (Section 1).
This provision expires December 31, 2016, and is identical to provisions contained in the truly agreed to and finally passed version of HB 1665 (2014).
This act contains an emergency clause for certain sections.
JESSICA BAKER