CCS HCS SCS SB 420 & 344 -- JUDICIAL PROCEDURES AND PERSONNEL

This bill changes the laws regarding judicial procedures and
personnel.  In its main provisions, the bill:

(1)  Specifies that health professionals who volunteer to be
deployed during a state emergency may be deployed to assist with
the emergency;

(2)  Adds physicians, psychiatrists, pharmacists, podiatrists,
dentists, nurses, and other health care providers who provide
services to patients or inmates in county jails under a formal
contract to the list of providers covered by the State Legal
Expense Fund;

(3)  Specifies that the State Legal Expense Fund is liable for
claims against state employees based on the conduct of the
employee arising out of and performed in connection with his or
her official duties on behalf of the state for economic damages
to any one plaintiff and up to $350,000 in non-economic damages.
The fund is the exclusive remedy and precludes other civil
actions.  There is an adjustment for inflation for non-economic
damages;

(4)  Specifies that moneys in the fund are not available for
claims against any board of police commissioners;

(5)  Provides that private contractors who receive money from the
Children's Division in the Department of Social Services will
have qualified immunity from civil liability for providing
services to children and their families.  This provision does not
apply if a private contractor knowingly violates a stated or
written policy of the division, any rule promulgated by the
division, or any state law directly related to child abuse and
neglect;

(6)  Clarifies the provisions allowing the division to exercise
discretion in awarding custody or visitation or placing a child
back in the home of a parent, or any person residing in the home,
who has been found guilty or plead guilty to specified offenses;

(7)  Revises the Safe Place for Newborns Act of 2002 to apply to
the voluntary relinquishment of a child no more than one year
old.  Current law applies to children between six days of age and
30 days of age;

(8)  Clarifies the provisions prohibiting a child under the care
of the state or the jurisdiction of a juvenile court from being
reunited with a parent or being placed back in the home with a
parent who has been found guilty or plead guilty to specific
crimes of sexual offenses or offenses against the family when the
child was the victim;

(9)  Establishes the Task Force on Alternative Sentencing within
the Department of Corrections and specifies its duties;

(10)  Requires a verified petition to be submitted in order to
form a transportation district;

(11)  Allows the court to enter a judgment abating child support
for a period of up to five months for any semester in which a
child completes at least six but less than 12 credit hours when a
child has had continuous attendance at an institution of higher
learning and has demonstrated evidence of a plan to continue the
attendance.  The five-month period of abatement may only be
granted once for each child;

(12)  Changes the review of the child support guidelines from
every three years to every four years;

(13)  Specifies that child orders of protection may be issued for
at least 180 days and up to one year;

(14)  Allows the court to retain jurisdiction over a full order
of protection for a child for the duration of the order and to
schedule compliance review hearings to monitor compliance with
the order;

(15)  Specifies that the term "owner" when used to define a
person having a right to create a beneficiary deed will include
any person, regardless of the terminology used to refer to the
owner in the deed.  This provision will apply to all beneficiary
deeds, including those executed prior to August 28, 2005;

(16)  Provides for the replacement of a disqualified probate
judge;

(17)  Provides for six circuit court judges in the 11th and 23rd
judicial circuits beginning January 1, 2007;

(18)  Specifies that the family court commissioner and the drug
court commissioner positions in the 11th and 23rd judicial
circuits will become associate circuit judge positions beginning
January 1, 2007;

(19)  Provides that there will be one additional associate
circuit judge in Cass County beginning January 1, 2007;

(20)  Requires clerks who process passport applications and
collect a fee for the processing to account for the expenditure
of the fee in an annual report to the presiding judge and the
Office of State Courts Administrator.  The fees may only be used
for the maintenance of the courthouse or to fund operations of
the circuit court;

(21)  Adds attorneys licensed to practice law in this state to
the definition of "notary public";

(22)  Specifies that courts or entities collecting court costs on
their behalf are not required to refund the overpayment of court
costs if it is less than $5.  The overpaid funds may be retained
by the court for the operation of the circuit court;

(23)  Allows circuit courts to contract with private entities
operating under a contract with a state agency or the Office of
State Courts Administrator to collect past due court-ordered
penalties or fines;

(24)  Specifies that health care providers and employees of
religious institutions may be excused from jury duty upon timely
application to the court;

(25)  Requires courts to specify the date a prospective juror
will appear for jury service before granting a postponement;

(26)  Specifies that actions regarding prevailing wage under
Chapter 288, RSMo, are subject to a three-year statute of
limitations;

(27)  Specifies that the service of summons in an unlawful
detainer action will be delivered by ordinary mail, rather than
certified.  If the officer assigned to execute the summons
returns to the court with information that the defendant cannot
be found and with proof by affidavit that the summons was mailed,
the judge will proceed to hear the matter as if personal service
had been made;

(28)  Allows sheriffs to agree as to which county will house a
defendant after a change of venue;

(29)  Prohibits the release of personal information of elected
officials on the Internet;

(30)  Creates a state-funded family court commissioner position
in the 29th Judicial Circuit;

(31)  Creates a state-funded drug court commissioner position in
the 42nd Judicial Circuit; and

(32)  Specifies that any drug court commissioner appointed in the
23rd Judicial Circuit will be a state-funded position.

Missouri House of Representatives
93rd General Assembly, 1st Regular Session
Last Updated August 25, 2005 at 1:21 pm