Chapter 21. Municipal Court

There is hereby created a municipal court in and for the City of Bellaire, to be known as the municipal court of record in the City of Bellaire.

(Ord. No. 99-091, 12-20-1999; Ord. No. 08-014, § 1(App. A), 3-24-2008)

The municipal court of record shall have jurisdiction within the city, with the power to hear and determine all cases of violation of this Code, the ordinances of the city, and all other cases of which municipal courts of record are given jurisdiction by state law.

(Ord. No. 99-091, 12-20-1999; Ord. No. 08-014, § 1(App. A), 3-24-2008)

(a) The rules of practice and procedure for the municipal court of record shall be as set forth by state law governing trials in the municipal court of record; and the city council or the presiding judge of the municipal court of record may prescribe such additional rules of practice and procedure as may not be inconsistent with state law, the City Charter or this Code.

(b) The Code of Criminal Procedure and the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure govern the trial of cases before the municipal court of record. The courts may make and enforce all rules of practice and procedure necessary to expedite the trial of cases before the courts that are not inconsistent with law.

(c) The appellate courts may make and enforce all rules of practice and procedure that are not inconsistent with law and that are necessary to expedite the dispatch of appeals from the municipal court of record.

(Ord. No. 99-091, 12-20-1999; Ord. No. 08-014, § 1(App. A), 3-24-2008)

There is hereby created the office of judge and associate judge of the municipal court of record, each of whom shall have the power and authority as granted by and shall perform the duties as required by state law.

(Ord. No. 99-091, 12-20-1999; Ord. No. 08-014, § 1(App. A), 3-24-2008)

(a) The city council shall appoint a judge and associate judge for the municipal court of record. The persons so appointed shall have the qualifications provided by state law; a municipal judge must: (1) be a resident of this state, (2) be a citizen of the United States, (3) be a licensed attorney in good standing, and (4) have two or more years of experience in the practice of law in this state.

In addition, the city council may appoint temporary judges to serve as substitute judges of the municipal court of record of the City of Bellaire, which judges shall possess the same qualifications as required of the judges of the municipal court of record. Any temporary judge so appointed shall have all of the powers and duties of the judge for whom he is sitting while so acting. Any appointment made by the city council for a temporary judge shall be for a specific time.

(b) The city council shall appoint one of the judges as the presiding judge. The presiding judge of the municipal court of record of the City of Bellaire shall serve the term for which he or she has been appointed in accordance with the Charter of the City of Bellaire. The presiding judge shall: (1) maintain a central docket for cases filed within the territorial limits of the municipality over which the municipal court of record has jurisdiction; (2) provide for the distribution of cases from the central docket to the individual municipal judges to equalize the distribution of business in the courts; (3) request the jurors needed for cases that are set for trial by jury; (4) temporarily assign judges or substitute judges to exchange benches and to act for each other in a proceeding pending in a court if necessary for the expeditious disposition of business in the courts; and (5) supervise and control the operation and clerical functions of the administrative department of each court, including the court's personnel, during the proceedings of the court.

(c) The judges of the municipal court of record of the City of Bellaire shall serve for a term of office of two years; however, in the event the city council of the City of Bellaire shall not act to reappoint or remove any judges previously appointed by the 91st day following the expiration of a term of office, the persons appointed as municipal court of record judges shall, absent action by the city council of the City of Bellaire, continue to serve for another term of office beginning on the date the previous term of office expired.

(Ord. No. 93-086, § 1, 12-20-1993; Ord. No. 99-091, 12-20-1999; Ord. No. 08-014, § 1(App. A), 3-24-2008)

A judge of a municipal court of record may be removed from office by the city council for the reasons stated and by the procedures provided for the removal of judges in the Charter of the City of Bellaire.

(Ord. No. 99-091, 12-20-1999)

Each judge, prior to taking office, shall take the requisite oath of office required by the Constitution and state law, and as prescribed in the Charter of the City of Bellaire.

(Ord. No. 99-091, 12-20-1999)

The city clerk of the City of Bellaire and all deputy city clerks, appointed pursuant to the Charter of the City of Bellaire, Article II, Section 13, shall, as needed from time to time, serve as clerks of the municipal court of record of the City of Bellaire.

(Ord. No. 99-091, 12-20-1999; Ord. No. 08-014, § 1(App. A), 3-24-2008)

The clerks of the municipal court of record shall perform all of the duties and have all of the powers bestowed upon clerks of the municipal courts of record by state law. Any clerk or deputy clerk, so appointed may act as the official clerk of the municipal court of record and perform all acts incident to such office.

The clerks of the municipal court of record of the City of Bellaire shall cause the complaints to be filed in such a manner as to provide for the equal distribution among the judges of the municipal court of record.

The clerks of the municipal court of record shall keep the records of the municipal court of record, issue process, and generally perform the duties that a clerk of a county court at law exercising criminal jurisdiction performs in that court, insofar as the same are applicable to the municipal court of record of the City of Bellaire. The clerk shall also maintain an index of all court judgments in the same manner as county clerks are required by law to prepare for criminal cases arising in county courts.

The city council may provide deputy clerks, warrant officers, and other personnel as needed for the proper operation of the courts. The clerk and other court personnel perform their duties under the direction and control of the presiding judge. The city council by ordinance shall provide for the hiring, direction, supervision, and removal of the personnel authorized in the annual budget for the clerk's office.

(Ord. No. 99-091, 12-20-1999; Ord. No. 08-014, § 1(App. A), 3-24-2008)

The city council shall provide courtrooms, jury rooms, offices, office furniture, libraries, law books, and other facilities and supplies that the city council determines are necessary for the proper operation of the municipal court of record.

(Ord. No. 99-091, 12-20-1999)

The city council shall provide the municipal court of record with a seal. The seal's appearance and use must substantially conform to Vernon's Ann. C.C.P. art 45.02, but must include the phrase "Municipal Court of the City of Bellaire, Texas."

(Ord. No. 99-091, 12-20-1999)

(a) The clerk of the municipal court of record is hereby authorized to receive payment of fines in the clerk's office during regular business hours from defendants who elect to waive trial, plead guilty or nolo contendere, and pay such fines in addition to statutory costs of court when such payments are tendered either by mail or in person prior to the trial time and date. The clerk shall accept fines for the offenses in the amounts as directed by the presiding judge of the municipal court of record of the City of Bellaire, with the approval of the city council of the City of Bellaire. A copy of the current schedule of fines as shall be promulgated by the presiding judge of the municipal court of record of the City of Bellaire shall be made available to the city council of the City of Bellaire and shall be on file in the office of the clerk of the municipal court of record of the City of Bellaire at all times.

(b) The presiding judge of the municipal court of record may, after conviction, assess upon the defendant a special expense, not to exceed the maximum amount established by state law, for the issuance and service of a warrant of arrest for an offense under V.T.C.A., Penal Code § 38.11 (1974), Bail Jumping and Failure to Appear, or under V.T.C.A., Transportation Code § 706.006, Administrative Fee. The presiding judges may also assess the special expenses described in Vernon's Ann. C.C.P. Art. 45.203 and a special expense for the issuance and service of a warrant of arrest, after due notice, not to exceed the maximum amount established by state law.

(c) Pursuant to the provisions of the Vernon's Ann. C.C.P. art. 45.0511(f), the presiding judge of the municipal court of record is hereby authorized to collect a special expense in the amount of $10.00 from each defendant whose case is required to be dismissed under the terms and provisions of V.T.C.A., Transportation Code § 543.101, because of actions by or on behalf of the defendant subsequent to the date of the alleged offense, to wit, the completion of a driving safety course approved by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

(d) Pursuant to the provisions of the Vernon's Ann. C.C.P. art. 102.017, Court Costs; Courthouse Security Fund; Municipal Court Building Security Fund, the presiding judge of the municipal court of record is hereby authorized to assess upon and collect from a defendant, after conviction in a trial for a misdemeanor offense, a $3.00 security fee as a cost of court all in accordance with said article 102.017. All costs collected pursuant to this subsection 21-14(d) shall be paid into a fund to be known as the Municipal Court Building Security Fund.

(e) The city council hereby establishes a transcript preparation fee in the amount of $25.00 pursuant to the V.T.C.A., Government Code § 30.00014(f). The transcript preparation fee does not include the fee for an actual transcript of the proceedings. If the case is reversed on appeal, the fee shall be refunded to the defendant. The defendant shall pay the transcript preparation fee and on appeal pay the fee for an actual transcript of the proceedings.

(Ord. No. 95-038, 9-18-1995; Ord. of 10-15-1998; Ord. No. 99-091, 12-20-1999)

(a) There is hereby created a municipal court technology fund. The municipal court technology fund may be used only to finance the technological enhancements for the city's municipal court of record, including but not limited to:

(1) Computer systems;

(2) Computer networks;

(3) Computer hardware;

(4) Computer software;

(5) Imaging systems;

(6) Electronic kiosks;

(7) Electronic ticket writers; and

(8) Docket management systems.

(b) The clerk of the city's municipal court of record is hereby authorized to collect a technology fee of $4.00 as a cost of court from those defendants convicted of a misdemeanor offense in the city's municipal court of record.

(c) In this section, a person is convicted if:

(1) A sentence is imposed on the person;

(2) The person receives probation or deferred adjudication; or

(3) The court defers final disposition of the person's case.

(d) The clerk of the municipal court of record shall collect the cost of the court as provided in this section and pay the funds collected to the director of finance for deposit in the municipal court technology fund.

(e) The technology fee established by this section shall only apply to an offense committed on or after September 1, 1999, and shall expire September 1, 2005.

(Ord. No. 99-073, 11-1-1999)

Pursuant to V.T.C.A., Government Code § 30.00010, proceedings of the municipal court of record shall be recorded by a good quality electronic recording device. The recording shall be kept for the 20-day period beginning the day after the last day of the court proceeding, trial, or denial of motion for a new trial, whichever occurs last. If a case is appealed, the proceedings shall be transcribed from the recording by an official court reporter.

(Ord. No. 99-091, 12-20-1999)