The city of Arnold is revamping its Municipal Court this year.
City Council members voted unanimously Jan. 18 to appoint Allison Sweeney to take over as the city’s prosecuting attorney, replacing William Ekiss on March 31.
City Administrator Bryan Richison said the city also will move its court session from evening sessions to daytime sessions, and it plans to move all of the court files to a digital database.
Starting in May, Municipal Court will be held at 1:30 p.m. on the first, second and fourth Mondays of each month. Currently, court is held at 7 p.m. on those Mondays.
“We think it will be easier on the staff having (court) during the day, and we think it will save us money,” Richison said.
By holding court during the day, the city will save an estimated $1,063 monthly in overtime pay to police officers, said Bill Lehmann, the city’s finance director.
“We have more (police) staffing during the day, and we are hopeful we will not have to bring in extra officers on overtime like we do during the evening (court),” Richison said. “The court staff also is paid overtime in the evenings.”
Richison said daytime court sessions may be more inconvenient for some people, but most people are not required to go to Municipal Court since traffic tickets are paid online or by phone, and typically, only the defendant’s lawyer is required to be at court.
He also said most disputes over summonses or traffic tickets are handled by lawyers through plea deal agreements or other agreements.
“It is a small number of people who come to court to start with,” Richison said. “It is not like we have 100 people there every court date.
“Certainly, there will be people who are impacted who work during the day and if they want to be there that could be a challenge. There are people who work other shifts besides 8-5, and those people are inconvenienced by court being at night. There is always going to be a group of people who are inconvenienced.”
Prosecuting attorney
Sweeney already works for the city as its attorney, along with her father, Bob Sweeney.
Ekiss, who was appointed Arnold’s prosecuting attorney in March 2018, is paid $2,000 per month, Lehmann said.
Allison Sweeney
He said Sweeney will be paid $170 per hour as the prosecuting attorney, which is also what she and her father’s law firm charges Arnold for their legal services.
“Mr. Ekiss has done a fine job for us,” Richison said. “We appreciate his service.”
However, Richison said he feels Sweeney will be a better fit for Arnold as it moves toward having a paperless prosecuting attorney’s office.
He said Sweeney, community development director David Bookless and information technology manager Deion Christopher already have begun research into moving to a paperless system.
“(Ekiss) is not someone I would say is very savvy with technology, and we know Allison is more used to that,” Richison said. “She kind of started an electronic database at her and her dad’s law firm. She also is pretty up-to-date on the software being used by the state.”
Going digital
Richison said he expects Arnold eventually will begin using a database called the Prosecuting Attorney Management System (PAMS).
“It is an electronic system to handle case files,” he said. “My feeling is we are a little behind on (using an electronic database system).
“Right now, the part-time clerk who works for the prosecutor brings a cartload of files into court and hands them to the prosecutor for each case. It is all paper. The judge and court clerk are electronic because they use Show-Me Courts that the state required all court systems to be on.
“Allison has more knowledge and experience with the system (PAMS); we think she will be the one who will be able to make that transition.”
Richison said he expects the city to start using PAMS toward the end of the year, adding that he wanted to give Sweeney time to settle in as the prosecuting attorney before making more changes.
He said Arnold has budgeted $15,000 to purchase PAMS, provide training on the system and buy additional computer equipment.