ORDINANCE NO. 120853
Amending Chapter 44, Code of
Ordinances, by repealing Sections 44-1, 44-3, 44-5, 44-8 and 44-9 relating to
municipal corrections and enacting in lieu thereof five new sections of like
number and subject.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF
KANSAS CITY:
Section 1. That
Chapter 44, Code of Ordinances of the City of Kansas City, Missouri, is hereby
amended by repealing Sections 44-1, 44-3, 44-5, 44-8 and 44-9 relating to
municipal corrections and enacting in lieu thereof five new sections of like
number and subject, to read as follows:
Sec. 44-1. Powers of the clerk of the municipal division
courts regarding prisoners.
(a) The clerk of the
municipal division courts or such clerk’s designee shall have the power to:
(1) Inquire into the nature of any case brought before the
municipal division courts of the city, and may recommend that any person
convicted thereby shall be pardoned:
(2) Authority to transport or designate an authorized agent to
transport inmates to and from a correctional facility as designated by the
clerk of the municipal division courts or such clerk’s designee pursuant to an
inmate housing agreement;
(3) Establish rules and regulations under which and specify the
conditions upon which, any prisoner may be allowed to go on work release, or be
assigned outside the buildings and enclosures of any correctional facility.
Such prisoner shall remain, while on work release, in the legal custody and
under the control of the clerk of the municipal division courts or such clerk’s
designee, and shall be subject at any time to be placed or taken back within
the enclosures of the correctional facility for violation of any conditions of
such work release or assigned outside work;
(4) Enforce such powers, regulations and conditions, and to
retake and reimprison any prisoner so trusted to the correctional facility.
(b) Whenever the
term municipal correctional institution is used in the city’s code of
ordinances, it shall mean a correctional facility and any other facility for
the inmate population as designated by the clerk of the municipal division
courts or such clerk’s designee.
Sec. 44-3. Police assistance
to the municipal division courts to enforce this chapter.
It shall be the
duty of the police department of the city to cooperate with the municipal
division courts and, at all times, at the request of the municipal division
courts, to render it such aid and assistance as it may require to carry out the
provisions of this chapter.
Sec. 44-5. Compelling
prisoners to work; allowance for labor; punishment of prisoner.
(a) Work
required. All prisoners shall be required to participate in work
assignments unless excused. Such assignments may include but not be limited to
the following: general maintenance of the correctional facility, work for
departments of city government, work release, or any other activity ordered by
a judge.
(b) Allowance.
Each prisoner shall receive credit on the books of the correctional facility
against and towards the satisfaction of the execution or warrant of commitment
under which the prisoner is held in custody, at the rate authorized by the
court en banc of the municipal division courts for each day of sentence, or
part thereof; provided that, in accordance with state law, a prisoner held for
nonpayment of a fine will not be held for longer than 30 days unless otherwise
ordered by the sentencing judge.
(c) Punishment.
Any sentenced prisoner who shall refuse a work assignment, or refuse to work
diligently, or any sentenced or unsentenced prisoner who shall behave in a
riotous or disorderly manner, or shall resist or refuse to obey a lawful order,
or shall attempt to escape from a correctional facility, may be disciplined in
an appropriate manner pursuant to the correctional facility procedures.
Sec. 44-8. Pardons.
The mayor shall
have authority to pardon any person convicted of violating any ordinance of
this city, and may request the clerk of the municipal division courts to
investigate and make a recommendation on a pardon inquiry. In addition, the
mayor shall transmit to the city clerk and the clerk of the municipal division
courts a duplicate copy of all pardons granted to persons so convicted, and the
city clerk and clerk of the municipal division courts shall keep a record of
such pardons. The mayor is authorized to make and promulgate reasonable and
necessary rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this section. A
copy of such rules and regulations shall be filed in the office of the city
clerk and the clerk of the municipal division courts. A nonrefundable fee in an
amount sufficient to defray the expenses of investigating the pardon
application, preparing a recommendation and issuing the mayor’s response shall
be charged.
Sec. 44-09. Parole.
(a) Definition. For purpose of this section,
the term parole means the release of a prisoner prior to the expiration of the
prisoner’s term. Such release is based upon conditions imposed by the
sentencing judge of the court or by the clerk of the municipal division courts
or such clerk’s designee.
(b) Recommendation for parole of disabled
prisoners. Whenever it shall be reported to the clerk of the municipal division
courts or such clerk’s designee that any person confined in the correctional
facility is disabled, or is afflicted with any contagious disease, mental
illness, sickness or infirmity, the clerk of the municipal division courts or
such clerk’s designee may recommend that such person be placed on parole.
(c) Recommendation of parole for other
prisoners. The clerk of the municipal division courts or such clerk’s
designee may also recommend parole for prisoners not in the categories
described in subsection {b} of this section. Such may include but shall not be
limited to the following: in the event of overcrowding at a correctional
facility, the clerk of the municipal division courts or such clerk’s designee
may unconditionally or conditionally release from custody unsentenced prisoners
or sentenced prisoners nearing the end of their sentence who have behaved
meritoriously and had no significant problem while incarcerated. In addition,
the clerk of the municipal division courts or such clerk’s designee may allow
early release of prisoners who have served at least one-third of their sentence
and who have meritoriously participated in a program established to encourage
good behavior and to facilitate such early releases. Any such program shall
pinpoint prisoners who, through initiative, hard work and participation in
self-improvement programs, have earned such consideration. A detailed administrative procedure shall be established to implement
any such program.
(d) Concurrence of circuit court. Whenever a
prisoner is confined in a correctional facility by virtue of sentencing by a
judge other than a municipal judge, no parole or early release shall be granted
without the express written concurrence of the judge so sentencing the
prisoner.
(e) Municipal
judges. Whenever a prisoner is confined in a correctional facility by
virtue of sentencing by a municipal judge, no early release shall be granted if
the municipal judge at the time of sentencing specified that the prisoner shall
not be released early. Any early release shall be subject to any conditions
specified by the municipal judge at the time of sentencing.
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Approved as to form and legality:
_______________________________
Alan L.
Holtkamp
Assistant City Attorney