Title
Continued discussion: Municipal Judge compensation
Body
Issue/Request:
The Municipal Court Judges are requesting consideration of increases in compensation as considerations are contemplated in restructuring dockets and other court functions. The compensation of municipal court judges is determined by the Mayor and City Council by ordinance, and as such, this consideration is being brought forward to the Finance and Budget Committee for consideration and direction.
Key Issues:
The Municipal Court Judges are considering changes to the operation(s) of the municipal court and in doing so, are requesting consideration of increases in compensation. Currently the Lee's Summit Municipal Court operates two separate divisions - Divisions 243 and 263 of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit Court of the State of Missouri. Currently each division holds dockets on one day of each week with Division 243 being held on Tuesdays, and Division 263 held on Thursdays. Judge Altieri and Judge Maxwell-Lopez will be present to provide information on the proposed restructuring and the request for the increase in compensation.
Attached to this packet are the current docket structure as well as a proposed docket structure being considered. The proposal under consideration would put in place a four docket per week schedule rather than a two docket per week schedule with Division 243 and 263 each having two dockets per week.
Update since the July 6, 2025 Committee Packet and Committee consideration:
As a follow-up from the initial presentation and discussion with the Finance and Budget Committee on July 6, 2025, the Committee requested additional clarification with respect to what may be considered additional duties and eligible for consideration for compensation increases from a legal perspective during a midterm period. City Manager Dunning consulted with outside legal counsel and the legal opinion that if the current case load is restructured from a two docket a week structure to a four docket per week structure, that is not considered additional duties from a legal context as it relates to increasing compensation mid term for additional duties. The analogy that has routinely been utilized is if 1,000 cases are split between two dockets of 500 each, and we transition to a schedule of handling those 1,000 cases between four dockets each week - that is not considered additional duties but rather restructuring current workload. City Manager Dunning also asked outside legal counsel if work performed by the judges to pursue a drug court and mental health court would be considered additional duties and the response and opinion was that efforts to pursue and conduct drug court and/or mental health court would be considered additional duties and could be considered for an increase in compensation as those services are not currently provided by the municipal court.
The Finance and Budget Committee also requested further information regarding what is required to be certified and recognized to conduct a mental health docket and a drug court docket and Judge Altieri and Judge Lopez were going to investigate those aspects further. Attached to this packet is Missouri Treatment Court Standards that provide standards for all treatment courts.
Background:
The Lee's Summit City Charter contains a provision stating, "Compensation of Municipal Judges shall be determined by ordinance, and shall not be dependent in any way upon the number of cases tried, the number of guilty verdicts reached or the amount of fines imposed or collected. No change in compensation of an incumbent Municipal Judge shall become effective during that judge's term of office." In addition to the language contained in the Lee's Summit City Charter, there is a prohibition against a midterm compensation increase for municipal officers in the Missouri Constitution. However, courts have found that this prohibition is not absolute as there are limited exceptions, one of which exists when "additional duties, extrinsic or not germane to the office have been imposed in conjunction with the increase in compensation."
Within the proposed restructuring of dockets and municipal court functions, it will be important to discern what is considered to be new duties or additional duties in order to meet the exception to allow for midterm compensation increase(s).
Attached to this packet are the following documents as background and reference:
* Applicable section of the Charter of the City of Lee's Summit related to Municipal Court
* Ordinance 7842 - ordinance establishing current compensation of elected officials with the City of Lee's Summit
* Ordinance 9828 - ordinance establishing compensation of elected officials with the City of Lee's Summit effective May 1, 2026
* Ordinance 9844 - ordinance providing rules relating to municipal court personnel management
Presenter
Mark Dunning, City Manager
Honorable Judge Altieri
Honorable Judge Maxwell-Lopez