MUNICIPAL COURT 2001

INTRODUCTION

The Municipal Court of the City of Morgantown is the judicial branch of the Municipal Government of the City of Morgantown. It is authorized and provided by West Virginia law and was created by ordinance promulgated by the Morgantown City Council. It serves the public independently of the legislative and executive branches of City government. The Morgantown Municipal Court Judge is an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of West Virginia and is appointed by City Council. The Judge is neutral and detached, thus affording people that come before the Court a fair and impartial hearing on the merits of their case. All persons are accorded access to the Court.

PROGRAMS/SERVICES

Municipal Court processes traffic and parking citations, criminal citations, misdemeanor arrests, and building, housing, and fire code violations committed within the City of Morgantown.

The Municipal Court schedule is as follows:

• First Monday of each month 3:00 P.M.
• Each Tuesday 8:00 A.M.
• Each Thursday 2:00 P.M.
• Second Thursday of each month 5:00 P.M.
• Jury Trials Scheduled as Needed
• Plea Day:
• Second Wednesday of each month 8:30 A.M.

Every citation issued by the Morgantown Police Department is assigned a court date at the time it is issued. In some cases, the citation may be paid prior to the court date. In all cases, the citation may be contested before the Court. Dates are assigned to police officers according to their work schedule. Every person arrested during the previous month is required to appear on Plea Day. On Plea Day, persons who plead not guilty are scheduled hearings, and those pleading guilty are sentenced that day.

Municipal Court is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m weekdays, and tours can be arranged by calling the Court Clerk at 284-7498.

REVIEW OF THE PAST YEAR

This has been a year of change for the Municipal Court. In April 2001, the Court’s data entry clerk resigned and relocated to Florida. On July 1, Sharon Polentes retired after serving as the Municipal Court Clerk for fifteen years. Joyce Marshall, who had been the payment clerk, took over the position of Municipal Court Clerk. Two new employees were then hired for the vacated positions. The new payment clerk is Lisa Novak, and the new data entry clerk is Aliene Berry.

Municipal Court Judge Stephen G. Higgins has entered his third year as Judge. The Judge and the Court Clerk attended a Judges’ training conference in Charleston on November 9th of this year.

The numbers and types of cases that have been processed by Municipal Court from July 1 through June 30, 2001 and 2000, are as follows:

The following chart depicts the breakdown by type of violation for total fines and court costs processed by Municipal Court during fiscal year 2001:

Included in the “Criminal” category are violations of fire codes, housing codes, and trash and litter codes. The following chart illustrates both the dollar value of fines and costs assessed on these violations, as well as the number of citations issued, for fiscal years 2000 and 2001:

All Court collections, after remitting the various required fees to the State, are paid to the City’s General Fund. The following chart depicts this revenue for the last two fiscal years:

Click for larger chart

RESOURCES

The Court offices are located on the first floor of the City Of Morgantown’s Public Safety Building at 300 Spruce St., Morgantown, WV 26505.

Court personnel consists of a part-time Municipal Court Judge, one substitute judge, full-time court clerk/supervisor, full-time payment clerk, full-time data entry clerk, and two part-time deputy municipal court clerks. The Assistant City Attorney serves as City Prosecutor and works closely with the Court staff.

The current computer system and software were installed in May 1998. Hardware consists of an IBM 200 MHz Pentium Pro server and four workstations, a dot matrix printer, laser printer, and an ink jet printer. The court is in the process of installing a new IBM X Series 232 server to accommodate the upgraded software program, which will be installed in December, 2001.

The Court continues to utilize Justice Systems, Inc.’s “FullCourt” software and contracts with Justice Systems, Inc. for its annual maintenance and support. This system permits Court staff to perform all case management functions from initial entry, scheduling, and case status updating, to collections, disbursements of monies, and case dispositions. Court staff will soon be able to contact Justice Systems support services 24 hrs. a day via the Internet.

FORECAST FOR THE COMING YEAR

The Court has a very busy year planned for 2002. On December 21 and 22 of the year 2001, the Court will be upgrading to Version 3 of the FullCourt Software. We are hopeful that the new software will allow the Court to process payments and dispositions more efficiently, thus allowing more time for the collection of delinquent parking ticket fines. The Court also plans to pursue the use of an outside collection agency to help with the collection process for delinquent accounts.

Municipal Court also plans to connect to the Internet. As mentioned previously, this will allow for 24 hr. support from Justice Systems and will facilitate communication with other courts and government agencies.

Municipal Court plans to continue its efforts to serve the Citizens of Morgantown in a courteous and efficient manner. The Court staff works hard to ensure that every person who comes into contact with Municipal Court leaves with a positive court experience.