Judges: JEREMIAH W. (JAY) NIXON, Attorney General
Filed Date: 8/30/1995
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
The Honorable Emanuel Cleaver II Mayor, City of Kansas City 29th Floor, City Hall 414 E. 12th St. Kansas City, MO 64106-2778
Dear Mayor Cleaver:
You have requested an opinion of this office relating to the Sunshine Law's application to records of the Kansas City Municipal Division of the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri. Your questions relate to the authority of the City Auditor to inspect records of the Municipal Division which are inaccessible to the general public. You further state: "The City Auditor has asked to inspect records of the Municipal Division that reflect the number of cases that have been nolle prossed by the City Prosecutor or otherwise dismissed in favor of the defendant. This request was made as part of an audit of the work of the Municipal Division, the Court Administrator's office, and the City Prosecutor. The City Auditor has been told by the Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court of Jackson County that no records reflecting cases that were nolle prossed or dismissed by the Municipal Division will be made available."
Your questions apparently relate to records which have been closed pursuant to Section
610.105 . Effect of nolle pros — dismissal — sentence suspended on record. — If the person arrested is charged but the case is subsequently nolle prossed, dismissed, or the accused is found not guilty or imposition of sentence is suspended in the court in which the action is prosecuted, official records pertaining to the case shall thereafter be closed records when such case is finally terminated except that the disposition portion of the record may be accessed for purposes of exculpation and except as provided in section610.120 .
Section
610.120 . Records to be confidential — accessible to whom, purposes — child care, defined. — 1. Records required to be closed shall not be destroyed; they shall be inaccessible to the general public and to all persons other than the defendant except as provided in this section and section43.507 , RSMo. They shall be available to the sentencing advisory commission created in section558.019 , RSMo, for the purpose of studying sentencing practices, and only to courts, law enforcement agencies, child care agencies, department of revenue for driving record purposes, facilities as defined in section198.006 , RSMo, in-home services provider agencies as defined in section660.250 , RSMo, the division of workers' compensation for the purposes of determining eligibility for crime victims' compensation pursuant to sections595.010 to595.075 , RSMo, and federal agencies for purposes of prosecution, sentencing, parole consideration, criminal justice employment, child care employment, nursing home employment and to federal agencies for such investigative purposes as authorized by law or presidential executive order. . . .
Section
Even though the City Auditor does not have the authority to review these closed records, this does not mean that the Municipal Division is unaudited. In Missouri Attorney General Opinion No. 7-83, a copy of which is enclosed, this office examined the structure of the courts as a result of the "Judicial Article Amendment" adopted August 3, 1976, and effective January 2, 1979. As stated on page 3 of that opinion:
These changes have made the circuit courts agencies of the State of Missouri. Accounts of the circuit courts and all divisions of the circuit courts in the custody of officers or employees of the circuit courts, e.g., circuit and division clerks, are subject to audit [by the State Auditor] pursuant to Article
IV , Section13 , Missouri Constitution, and Section29.200 , RSMo 1978.
Furthermore, on page 5 of the opinion, this office stated:
The language employed by the General Assembly in establishing each of the divisions of the circuit courts, including the juvenile, municipal, and probate divisions, shows a clear intent that each of the limited jurisdiction divisions is but a part of the circuit court. Because each such division is vested with elements of the State's judicial power pursuant to Article
V , Section1 , Missouri Constitution, we believe the State Auditor's duty to audit extends to the circuit courts and all divisions thereof. [Emphasis added.]
See also, Missouri Attorney General Opinion No. 170-90, a copy of which is enclosed, specifically addressing the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, which includes the Kansas City Municipal Division, and concluding the State Auditor is authorized to audit the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit.1
Sincerely,
JEREMIAH W. (JAY) NIXON Attorney General