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Kansas City Municipal Court, Missouri

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Trial courts and judges
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The Kansas City Municipal Court resides in Missouri. Click on the links below to learn more about the court's...

Jurisdiction

This court holds the following jurisdiction:[1]

The municipal division handles municipal ordinance violations, such as traffic offenses and housing code violations. Municipalities may have these cases heard by an associate circuit judge of the county or may provide, at their own expense, a municipal judge or judges support personnel and suitable quarters for the municipal division. Most municipalities have their own municipal judges, support personnel and quarters in which these cases are heard. Cases generally are not heard by an associate circuit judge unless it is a trial de novo (a retrial of a case).[2]

Judges


Elections

Missouri is one of 43 states that hold elections for judicial positions. To learn more about judicial selection in Missouri, click here.

Selection method

See also: Judicial selection in the states

Judges of the Missouri Municipal Courts are selected in the method determined by the municipal ordinance.[3] Most municipal courts have a presiding Circuit Court judge and one municipal court judge, although some have several municipal judges.[4]

Judicial elections in Missouri

See also: Missouri judicial elections

Missouri is one of eight states that use partisan elections to initially select judges and then use retention elections to determine whether judges should remain on the bench. To read more about how states use judicial elections to select judges across the country, click here.

Partisan election

Trial judges who were elected in partisan elections may seek re-election at the end of their terms. They must run as a Republican, Democrat, or an independent. Partisan elections decide the majority of Missouri's judges. Judges first run in a party primary in August, with the winner of each primary moving on to the general election.[5][6][7]

Candidates who run unopposed are not printed on the official ballot.[8]

Retention election

Judges on the supreme court and appellate courts are subject to the nonpartisan court plan and run for retention. Trial judges in five counties also run for retention in accordance with this plan. Those counties are St. Louis, Jackson, Clay, Platte and Greene.[5]

See also

External links

Footnotes