If you’re wondering how long you’ll be collecting the $3 surcharge from convicted defendants for the Sheriffs’ Retirement Fund, or if you’re won- dering whether or not you’ll have to start col- lecting it, you’ll need to wait for the answer awhile longer. The Cole County Circuit Court recently dismissed (for lack of standing) a closely watched suit which sought to end the $3 surcharge. This is the same court that in August 2013 had declined a re- quest to stop the collec- tions. Attorneys in favor of all municipal courts collecting the surcharge represent the Office of State Courts Administra- tor (OSCA), the Missouri Attorney General, and the Sheriffs’ Retirement Sys- tem. Opposition to such collections includes, among others, attor- ney Frank Vatterott (right), City of Slat- er, Missouri Munici- pal League and two municipal employ- ees. The case in now be- ing appealed to the Western District Court of Appeals. St. Louis-area attor- ney Frank Vatterott said about the $3 surcharge’s effect, “I feel strongly about it. It is terrible these poor defendants get a ticket and then have to pay an extra three dollars into a retirement fund having nothing to do with the work of the municipal court.” The history of the $3 sur- charge is fairly straight- forward: The General Assembly established the Sheriffs’ Retirement Fund in 1983. For the next 30 years, the sur- charge did not appear to apply to municipal courts. Then, in 2013, the Attor- ney General issued an opinion stating that though municipal divi- (Continued on page 2) $3 Surcharge Under Appeals Court Review Missouri Association for Court Administration Officers 2013-2014 President Jeff Chapple/O’Fallon President Elect Jody Caswell/Creve Coeur Secretary Colleen Massey/Manchester Treasurer Debra A. Freise/Moscow Mills Hospitality Chair Dee Williams/Columbia Membership Director Amy Essary/Branson West Professional Development Donna Tharp/Warson Woods Directors (Region) Tami Trulove (1) Carol Wheat (2) Dana Hamilton (3) Deana D. Teague (4) Jeanne Edster (5) Jeanette Chastain (6) Deborah Galey (7) Tab A. Armstrong (8) Alicia Smith (9) MACA’s Fall Seminar Accomplishes Much MACA’s Fall Seminar at Tan-Tar-A in October was a success, with many attendees gathering useful information from the nu- merous presenta- tions. Relevant topics such as evidence-based prosecu- tion, records retention, Missouri DWI pro- cessing, and the Sunshine Law provided the useful, up-to-date information MACA members have come to depend on for ongoing educa- tion. Networking and socializing were also part of the annual two-day event. MACA eNews MACA ENEWS FALL 2014 Profile: Macon’s Robin Ausmus 2 Rewrite of Criminal Code Draws Attention 3 Domestic Violence Surcharge 3 New Website...Log on now and try it! 3 Newest CCA’s— Congratulations! 5 President Chapple’s Message 7 MACA’s New Publica- tion... MACA eNews! 7 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Hello, Court Clerks & Administrators - Welcome to MACA eNews, your monthly snapshot of the latest association news and information to enjoy, share, and use! sponsored by... “I’m glad when I’m able to at- tend...I pick up some very useful information, and I also enjoyed seeing some close friends.” -Kimberly Castillo Springfield Municipal Court Frank Vatterott, attorney opposing $3 surcharge. e.
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Transcript
If you’re wondering how
long you’ll be collecting
the $3 surcharge from
convicted defendants for
the Sheriffs’ Retirement
Fund, or if you’re won-
dering whether or not
you’ll have to start col-
lecting it, you’ll need to
wait for the answer
awhile longer.
The Cole County Circuit
Court recently dismissed
(for lack of standing) a
closely watched suit
which sought to end the
$3 surcharge. This is the
same court that in August
2013 had declined a re-
quest to stop the collec-
tions. Attorneys in favor
of all municipal courts
collecting the surcharge
represent the Office of
State Courts Administra-
tor (OSCA), the Missouri
Attorney General, and the
Sheriffs’ Retirement Sys-
tem. Opposition to such
collections includes,
among others, attor-
ney Frank Vatterott
(right), City of Slat-
er, Missouri Munici-
pal League and two
municipal employ-
ees.
The case in now be-
ing appealed to the
Western District
Court of Appeals.
St. Louis-area attor-
ney Frank Vatterott
said about the $3
surcharge’s effect,
“I feel strongly
about it. It is terrible
these poor defendants get
a ticket and then have to
pay an extra three dollars
into a retirement fund
having nothing to do with
the work of the municipal
court.”
The history of the $3 sur-
charge is fairly straight-
forward: The General
Assembly established the
Sheriffs’ Retirement
Fund in 1983. For the
next 30 years, the sur-
charge did not appear to
apply to municipal courts.
Then, in 2013, the Attor-
ney General issued an
opinion stating that
though municipal divi-
(Continued on page 2)
$3 Surcharge Under Appeals Court Review
Missouri Association for
Court Administration
Officers 2013-2014
President
Jeff Chapple/O’Fallon
President Elect
Jody Caswell/Creve Coeur
Secretary
Colleen Massey/Manchester
Treasurer
Debra A. Freise/Moscow Mills
Hospitality Chair
Dee Williams/Columbia
Membership Director
Amy Essary/Branson West
Professional Development
Donna Tharp/Warson Woods
Directors (Region)
Tami Trulove (1)
Carol Wheat (2)
Dana Hamilton (3)
Deana D. Teague (4)
Jeanne Edster (5)
Jeanette Chastain (6)
Deborah Galey (7)
Tab A. Armstrong (8)
Alicia Smith (9)
MACA’s Fall Seminar Accomplishes Much
MACA’s Fall Seminar at
Tan-Tar-A in October
was a success, with many
attendees gathering useful
information from the nu-
merous
presenta-
tions.
Relevant
topics
such as
evidence-based prosecu-
tion, records retention,
Missouri DWI pro-
cessing, and the Sunshine
Law provided the
useful, up-to-date
information
MACA members
have come to
depend on for
ongoing educa-
tion. Networking and
socializing were also part
of the annual two-day
event.
MACA eNews
MACA ENEWS FALL 2014
Profile: Macon’s
Robin Ausmus 2
Rewrite of Criminal
Code Draws Attention 3
Domestic Violence
Surcharge 3
New Website...Log
on now and try it! 3
Newest CCA’s—
Congratulations! 5
President Chapple’s
Message 7
MACA’s New Publica-
tion... MACA eNews! 7
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Hello, Court Clerks & Administrators -
Welcome to MACA eNews, your monthly snapshot of the latest association news and information to enjoy, share, and use!
sponsored by...
“I’m glad when I’m able to at-
tend...I pick up some very useful
information, and I also enjoyed
seeing some close friends.”
-Kimberly Castillo
Springfield Municipal Court
Frank Vatterott, attorney opposing $3 surcharge.
municipal court fee.
FALL 2014 P AGE 2
involved lots of accounting) was not
for her. Thus began Macon Munici-
pal Court career. With two part-
time clerks, weekly meetings with
her municipal judge, and
never-ending collections,
Robin has found her busy
workload a little easier
with the lifelong friend-
ships and education
MACA has provided.
“One of the best things I
and my staff have done is
to remember to treat peo-
ple as people, to give
them respect and to not
be judgmental,” Robin
said recently. “And it
works. A man I once
helped comes into our
office once a month to
say how much he appre-
ciates how he was treat-
ed.”
Robin’s hobbies include
renovating her 1890
home (inside and out),
summer cycling the Katy
Trail, and she is a long-
time Mizzou football
ticket holder who has been accused
of literally bleeding black and gold
- GO TIGERS!
If you’ve
ever won-
dered what
it’s like to be
a court clerk
and then a
court admin-
istrator for
over 25
years, maybe
Robin Aus-
mus would
be a good role model. Macon Mu-
nicipal Court has been her focus
these many years and being a mem-
ber of MACA (and past president)
has helped her provide better ser-
vices to the public. She recently
completed Mineral Area College’s
Advance Certified Court Adminis-
trator Certification and she com-
mented, “It makes it easier to go
into a room knowing you have
something relevant to talk about.”
Robin grew up in Iowa and, later, in
Macon where her father was Post-
master. After completing her Crim-
inal Justice degree at CMU, Robin
realized one of her
first jobs (which
sions had been originally
excluded, in 1996 that
exception was removed.
Then, OSCA issued
guidance to all 575 mu-
nicipal courts to begin
collecting the $3 sur-
charge (even though in
April 2011 OSCA had
recommended to munici-
palities not to collect the
surcharge). The above
referenced suit was filed
shortly thereafter.
(Continued from page 1) Recent audit studies demonstrate an
annual $1.5 million shortfall in the
Sheriffs’ Retirement
Fund to satisfy bene-
fits promised.
Perhaps understanda-
bly, many mayors,
councilmen, munici-
pal judges and court
administrators have a
shared question –
why should munici-
pal courts be collect-
ing retirement funds
for county employees
who have never per-
formed any services
for a municipal court? [It is worth
noting this opposition to the sur-
charge is not driven by lack of re-
spect for county law enforcement]
Supporters of the surcharge point to
statutory changes in 1996 which
eliminated the assessment collection
exception for juvenile and munici-
pal courts. Still, many municipal
jurisdictions have chosen to forego
collecting the surcharge until the
matter is settled by the courts.
So, sit tight…MACA eNews will
let you know of any further devel-
opments.
Profile: City of Macon’s Robin Ausmus
$3 Surcharge (continued)
Missouri Court of Appeals
MACA ENEWS P AGE 3
sistance Unit to have the surcharge
amount updated.
Also, for all municipal courts, any
overpayments not exceeding $5.00
may be paid to the municipality for
the operation of the municipal
court.
Specific legislation passed authoriz-
es municipalities in the 31st Circuit
only to assess a surcharge of up to
$10to pay costs associated with the
land assemblage and purchase, con-
struction, maintenance, and opera-
tion of any municipal judicial facili-
ty. The City of Florissant and the
Kansas City mu-
nicipal court were
also authorized to
collect a surcharge
of up to $10 for
similar purposes.
If you missed it, here are the key
2014 legislative enactments affect-
ing municipal court costs…
For all municipal courts, the Do-
mestic Violence Surcharge was
increased from $2 to $4 upon au-
thorization by the municipality’s
governing body. JIS courts should
provide a copy of the ordinance or
order to the OSCA Accounting As-
For municipal court clerks and adminis-
trators wanting to understand the
new changes to the state’s criminal
code, no fear – the new laws do not
take full effect until January 2017,
so there is plenty of time to master
changes that might find their way to
your office.
The need for the revisions were
clear to Rep. Stanley Cox, stating,
“The goal in updating
the Criminal Code was to make it
more cohesive and easier to under-
stand, plus make penalties more con-
sistent and just.”
These revisions are the first
significant changes to Mis-
souri’s criminal code in near-
ly 35 years. Indeed, the
scope of change was wide
enough to cause concern to
many of the parties involved
in the final product. And
what are those changes?
The rewrite is centered on
the creation of new classes
Domestic Violence Surcharge Increase Allowed
Criminal Code Rewrite Draws Attention
of felonies and misdemeanors. Crimes
are restructured within a new penalty
framework. Additionally, all crime
categories would be subject to higher
fines.
Two specific changes have received
particular attention. First, some first-
time criminals convicted of possessing
less than 10 grams of marijuana will
avoid prison sentences. Second, those
convicted of sexually abuse of family
face longer incarceration.
New Website! Try It Now...macaonline.net Next time you are stumped by a