Municipal court elections, judges, and procedure, and providing penalties

2. Requires, in addition to current law that requires only the adoption of an ordinance for a court to exist, that the court must submit written notice of the ordinance to the director of state courts and receive certification from the chief judge of the judicial administrative district.

3. Provides that the municipal court budget or line item be separate from the budget of all other municipal departments.

4. Allows a municipal court to appoint a social worker to assist the court in determining if a defendant lacks substantial mental capacity to understand the proceeding or to assist in his or her defense. Currently, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem in those situations. The new provision gives the court an alternative choice of whom to appoint, and further clarifies that a determination of incompetency results in the suspension of the proceedings.

5. Requires municipal judges to be elected for four-year terms, rather than the two- to four-year terms as provided by ordinance under current law.

6. Gives municipal judges statewide jurisdiction.

7. Requires the municipality to provide the judge with an office or appropriate work space and removes the restriction on a municipal judge from having an office with a law partner.

8. Requires the municipality to authorize at least one clerk position for the municipal court and gives the municipal judge authority over the hiring, work responsibilities, and firing of court personnel. The bill provides that the judge's supervisory authority is a prohibited subject of collective bargaining for court personnel who are not employed by a city of the first class and requires the clerk to attend continuing education programs approved by the supreme court.

9. Requires the municipal judge to store all municipal court records in an appropriate facility designated by the municipality.

10. Requires a municipal judge to wear a black robe while presiding in a municipal court and prohibits the clerk from wearing anything that implies or indicates he or she is a law enforcement employee.

11. Prohibits the municipality from locating the municipal court or the court personnel within the municipal police department and gives the judge the authority to establish court hours, while requiring the municipality to provide an adequate courtroom for the municipal court.

12. Requires each municipal court to have a telephone number or extension separate from any other governmental department.

13. Allows service of the summons and complaint by first class mail, in addition to the current methods of service that are identical to those permitted in circuit court, but does not allow the suspension of a person's operating privilege or issuance of a warrant if the defendant was served by mail.

14. Requires the law enforcement officer or municipal employee who serves a summons and complaint to indicate the method of service on the documents filed with the court.

15. Clarifies that a citation or complaint may be used to start the municipal court action, and the action is commenced when the citation or complaint is filed with the court.

16. Includes in the citation or complaint a statement as to whether the judge mandates that the person make a personal appearance.

17. Includes in the citation or complaint the identification of a permit issued to the defendant or the license number of the defendant, if appropriate.

18. Allows a citation or complaint to be amended after the initial appearance of the defendant only at the discretion of the court after a hearing or at the trial by the court to conform to the evidence.

19. Requires the service of a copy of an amended complaint when amendment is made before an initial appearance.

20. Clarifies that a defendant may appear in municipal court in person or by submitting a written response to the citation or complaint, except when the court requires the defendant to appear in person.

21. Limits the time that a defendant may be detained in jail to 48 hours if the defendant failed to make an initial appearance or make a deposit, if the court issued a warrant to bring the defendant before the court.

22. Provides that the municipal court may schedule a pretrial conference in those cases where a trial has been requested, and if the parties come to an agreement at the conference, the court may approve the agreement or disapprove the agreement and proceed to trial.

23. Clarifies that when a transfer of a case is made because of a request for the substitution of a judge, the parties, including the prosecutor, remain the same, and the amount of the judgment, if any, is paid to the original municipal court from which the case was transferred.

24. Provides that if a municipal judge disqualifies himself or herself, the case shall be transferred to another judge in the same manner as a judge substitution transfer.

25. Allows a municipal judge who is to be temporarily absent, sick, or disabled, subject to the order of the chief judge of the judicial administrative district, to designate another municipal judge within the state to perform his or her duties. This provision replaces language that allowed the municipal judge to deliver the case to the circuit court for disposition. If the municipal judge was in the first judicial administrative district, currently the municipal judge could also designate, for a period of not more than 30 days, a municipal judge from within the state to perform his or her duties. If the municipal judge was from another judicial administrative district, current law allows the municipal judge to designate, for a period of not more than 30 days, a municipal judge from within that district to perform his or her duties.

26. Allows a chief judge of the judicial administrative district to designate any municipal judge within the state temporarily to perform the duties of municipal judge when there is a permanent vacancy in the office of municipal judge.

27. Requires the municipality to provide a prosecutor for municipal court cases and allows telephonic or audiovisual testimony at any proceeding.

28. Allows a municipal court to order community service work in lieu of restitution without needing the defendant's agreement but still needing the agreement of the person to whom the restitution is owed and the agreement of the organization where the community service work would occur.

29. Allows the municipal court to order a defendant to pay restitution for any nontraffic ordinance violation or for any drunk driving ordinance violation.

30. Clarifies that the municipal court may order the suspension of a defendant's operating privilege if the violation was related to the operation of a motor vehicle, which includes nonmoving traffic offenses, or if the judgment is ordered under the juvenile justice code. The bill gives a credit of not less than $50 for each day of imprisonment.

31. Provides that a municipal court may order that a defendant be imprisoned for up to 90 days for failure to pay the amount of the judgment only if the defendant has the ability to pay the judgment, has failed to perform community service, has failed to attend a hearing to determine if he or she is indigent, or has failed to complete a drug assessment of treatment program.

32. Allows the municipal court to order the assignment of up to 25 percent of the defendant's income, including lottery winning, for the payment of the judgment and provides procedural safeguards.

33. Changes the time frame for the court to pay any money the court receives to the municipal treasurer from 7 days to 30 days.

34. Removes the requirement that the transcript of a municipal court judgment include the vocation of the defendant.

35. Allows the reopening of a judgment at any time by either party under some of the specified conditions used in circuit court, rather than by only the defendant, and allows reopening a judgment within six months in certain situations.

36. Requires the court to reopen a default judgment on the motion of the defendant if the judgment was based on service by mail, while prohibiting any appeal of a default judgment.

37. Specifies that contempt of court involves intentional acts in the presence of the court that interfere with the proceedings or administration of justice or that impair the respect due to the court, or refusal of a witness to appear without reasonable excuse.

38. Increases the maximum penalty for contempt of court from a $50 forfeiture to a $200 forfeiture, allows imprisonment of up to 7 days, and provides that the penalty be imposed immediately after the contempt occurs only to preserve order in the court or protect the authority of the court and only after the person who committed the contempt is allowed to address the court.

39. Allows the municipal court to issue a warrant to bring a witness before the court for the contempt of court for failing to appear, to order the witness to testify, and to order the witness to pay the cost of apprehending him or her, plus any ordered forfeiture for the contempt.