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Mayor's Courts: What You Need to Know

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FAQ

1) What is a Mayor's Court?

2) What are the Roles of the Mayor and Other Court Officers?

3) What are Your Rights in Mayor's Court?

4) What Are Court Records?

5) What are the Time Limits for Prosecution?

6) What are the Court Costs?

7) What are the Steps of the Mayor's Court Judicial Process?

8) How are Fines, Fees, and Forfeitures Paid?

 

1) What is a Mayor’s Court?

Mayor’s Court

  • A municipal court with the power to find someone guilty or innocent of breaking local laws called municipal ordinances. The court can sometimes hear cases on local traffic tickets.

What does municipal mean?

  • Relating to a city, town, or village, based upon population

What can Mayor’s Courts do?

  • Issue arrest warrants
  • Grant bail
  • Summon people to court
  • Conduct trials
  • Determine guilt
  • Appoint a public defender (criminal cases)
  • Give sentences
    • Assign Fines – money you must pay to the court
    • Send someone to jail
    • Place someone on probation

What can’t Mayor Courts do?  

  • DUI’s
  • Injunctions – stopping something from happening (like stopping an eviction or stopping a payment)
  • Home incarceration 
  • Juvenile offenses
  • Cases about worthless checks
  • Felonies (where someone may be sentenced to death or imprisonment at hard labor )

 

2) What are the Roles of the Mayor and Other Court Officers? 

The role of the Mayor

  • To try all breaches of municipal ordinances.
  • Can hold court at any time.
  • Can give out fines and imprisonment.
  • Sentence someone to unsupervised or supervised probation.
  • Determine court costs.
  • Stop a sentence of fines imprisonment, or probation.
  • Dismiss a case.
  • Appoint prosecuting attorneys or magistrate attorneys, with municipal council approval.
  • Issue warrants for arrest, summonses to court, grant bail.
  • Appoint a public defender when necessary in criminal cases.

Magistrate Attorneys

  • Can be appointed to perform the same tasks as the mayor.
  • Not always present in a Mayor’s Court.
  • If a magistrate attorney is appointed, the mayor no longer has power over a case.
  • Magistrate must be an attorney.

What is a Mayor Pro-Tempore?

  • Takes over as ‘Acting Mayor’ when the;
    • Mayor is out for disability;
    • Mayor’s office is vacant; or
    • Mayor gives written consent.

Chief of Police/ Marshal

  • Marshal is chief of police and maintains general responsibility over law enforcement within the municipality.

Prosecuting Attorney

  • A prosecuting attorney is a public official who institutes proceedings and conducts the case against a defendant in a criminal proceeding.
  • Not always present in a Mayor’s Court.
  • Prosecutors are appointed by the mayor with municipal council approval.
  • When a prosecutor is appointed, the prosecution is the only official with authority to dismiss a case.
  • A prosecuting attorney also has power to change a moving violation to nonmoving violation.

Court Clerk

  • The duties of a Clerk of Court include:
    • Processing and maintaining documents and court records;
    • Keeping track of traffic violations;
    • Collecting and distributing fines and fees ordered by the court; and
    • Answering questions for people about dates and times of court and paperwork needed – can give you a record of your entire case.
  • Not always present in a Mayor’s Court.

Bailiff

  • Is an official in the courtroom who maintains order.
  • Not always present in a Mayor’s Court.

 

3) What are Your Rights in Mayor's Court? 

Constitutional Rights

These rights are found in the United States Constitution and the Louisiana Constitution:

  • Everyone has a right to a speedy and public trial.
  • Everyone has a right to an impartial (fair) trial.
  • The accused must see, hear, and have the opportunity to question witnesses. 
  • The court must do all within its power to bring the witnesses into the court.
  • The accused must be given a lawyer if they are unable to secure one (if charged with an offense punishable by imprisonment).
  • No person may be tried for the same offense twice, except when they themselves, apply for a new trial.
  • The accused must be informed of what they are accused of.
  • No person may be forced to give evidence against themselves in a criminal case.
  • Only a confession that was freely, voluntarily, and knowingly made can be used against someone.
  • Excessive bail, excessive fine, excessive rule, or unusual punishment is not allowed.
  • No person shall be imprisoned, fined, or lose property without having their case decided by a judge or magistrate.
  • Due process requires that every fact necessary to prove that someone committed the offense be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

4) What Are Court Records?

  • The Mayor’s Court must
    • keep a record of all cases that will be heard by the court.
    • keep all documents, information, and notes from every case that is tried.
  • Records are public and must be kept for at least 3 years.
  • Records should be organized and filed.

 

5) What are the Time Limits for Prosecution?

  • A person cannot be prosecuted for an offense after:
    • 2 years – if punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both
    • Six months – if punishable only by fine.
  • Note, the time period stops if the person flees the state or is absent for the purpose of avoiding prosecution.

 

6) What are the Court Costs?

Court Costs

  • The mayor can determine court costs.
  • In general, the court costs of the municipality may not be more than $30 for each offense.
  • However, the mayor may impose additional court costs of up to $20 per offense.
  • The law also allows for some Mayor’s courts to charge additional court costs for the municipality.
  • There are also additional fees, state costs, and local costs.

General Statewide costs

The following is a listing of general and special court costs, excluding local costs:

 

Offense

Costs

Reason

Total

Municipal Ordinance, other than traffic violation

$30

General

 

 

$50

Law enforcement witness fee (max)

 

 

$2

Law enforcement training

 

 

$1-3

Trial Court Management System

 

 

$0.50

Judicial College

 

 

$7.50

Crime Victims Repatriation Fund

$91.00

 

Traffic violations, other than speeding or reckless operation

$30

General

 

 

$50

Law enforcement witness fee (max)

 

 

$2

Law enforcement training

 

 

$2

Preparation/Submission of abstract (except for parking violations)

 

 

$0.50

Judicial College

 

 

$1-3

Trial Court Management System

$85.50

Speeding or reckless operation

$30

General

 

 

$50

Law enforcement witness fee (max)

 

 

$2

Law enforcement training

 

 

$2

Preparation/Submission of abstract

 

 

$0.50

Judicial College

 

 

$1-3

Trial Court Management System

$90.50

Litter violation

$30

General

 

 

$50

Law enforcement witness fee (max)

 

 

$2

Law enforcement training

 

 

$0.50

Judicial College

 

 

$1-3

Trial Court Management System

 

 

$5

La. Help our Wildlife Fund

 

 

$7.50

Crime Victims Repatriation Fund

$96.00

Mobility-impaired parking violation

$30

General

 

 

$50

Law enforcement witness fee (max)

 

 

$2

Law enforcement training

 

 

$0.50

Judicial College

 

 

$1-3

Trial Court Management System

 

 

$25

Disability Affairs Trust Fund

 

 

$25

Handicapped parking enforcement program (local)

$133.50

 

 

7) What are the Steps of the Mayor's Court Judicial Process?

How does a case begin?

Either:

  • A person is issued with a citation, which is an order to appear before a judge on a given date against a stated charge; or
  • An affidavit is filed in open court. An affidavit (sometimes referred to as information) is a formal accusation which begins the judicial process.

How is the accused brought to court?

The Mayor’s Court can issue a:

  • summons, which is a document that requires the accused to come to court at a set time; or
  • a warrant of arrest, a document authorizing the accused to be arrested and taken into custody.

Can Mayors set Bail?

  • Mayors have authority to set bail in criminal cases within their jurisdiction.
  • A bail order must be in writing, set the type and a single amount of bail for each charge and be signed by the mayor.
  • Some courts will also have a bail schedule, which allows a person to pay the bail according to the schedule instead of appearing before the mayor to set bail. 

What is an arraignment?

  • An arraignment is where the accused is notified of the charges against them in court and is asked to enter a plea.
  • If the plea is not guilty, the matter is set down for a trial.

Trial & Sentencing

  • The defendant can summon witnesses.
  • There are no juries in mayor’s courts.
  • If a defendant pleads guilty, or is found guilty after a trial, the mayor sentences the offender to a punishment.
  • Mayor’s Court judges may sentence a convicted offender either to:
    • Pay a fine;
    • Jail time; or
    • Both as set in the ordinance violated.
      • an ordinance may not set a fine greater than $500 and/or jail for more than 60 days for each offence.
  • The mayor may:
    • Suspend (not enforce) the whole or any part of the fine or jail sentence and give probation instead; and
      • The probation time must be 6 months or less;
    • Probation may be unsupervised (not required to report to an officer).

Appeals

  • A person convicted in a Mayor’s Court has the right to appeal to the district court.
  • An appeal can be made orally in open court or by filing a written motion with the clerk. An appeal must be made within 30 days of the judgment.
  • The appeal will be ‘de novo’. That means, the district court will hear the case as if it were a new case.

Peace Bond

  • A peace bond is an order that requires a person to keep the peace and not get in further trouble for a specific period of time.
  • The Mayor may order peace bond if the mayor determines that there is a good reason to believe someone will commit another crime.
    • Otherwise, must release defendant
  • Plaintiff must pay the cost.
  • Plaintiff shall pay $15 for each defendant summoned to a hearing, unless the Plaintiff is seeking protection from:
    • Domestic abuse;
    • Dating violence;
    • Stalking; and/or
    • Sexual assault.
  • If defendant is released, cost should be paid by the Plaintiff.
  • If a peace bond is ordered, defendant shall pay costs.
  • Peace bonds cannot be longer than 6 months. 
    • Condition is that defendant will not commit the threatened or any related breach of the peace.

 

8) How are Fines, Fees, and Forfeitures Paid?

How to pay a fine?

  • Mayors courts should accept payment by credit card, electronic fund transfer, money order, bank cheque, teller’s check, cashier’s check, traveler’s check, or electronic fund transfer terminal, or similar device or terminal.
  • An additional credit card processing fee may be imposed.
  • Mayors courts cannot require payment of fine while a conviction is being appealed.

How do Mayor’s Courts collect unpaid fines?

  • After 60 days without payment a court can create a debt judgment against the defendant for the amount owing.
  • In addition, the court can add judicial interest to begin 60 days after the fine is assigned, plus all court costs and the costs to try and collect the money – this means the amount you owe will start to go up the longer you do not pay.
  • Fines may be collected by a third party private collection agency for the court.