Your presence in Municipal Court today is perhaps your first experience in any Court.  This brochure has been prepared to help you understand the Court proceedings and to inform you of your rights and duties.  We want every person to leave this Court feeling that he or she has been treated fairly.

Trials are conducted under the Code of Criminal Procedure. Code for Municipal Courts and the Kansas Rules of Evidence as adopted by the Kansas Legislature. 

Right To an attorney

In all cases in the Municipal Court, you may have an attorney represent you.

If you are found guilty or plead guilty to the charge, the Court can assess your attorney fees as part of the Court costs.

Before court begins 

1) Guilty

2) Nolo Contendere (No Contest)

3) Not Guilty

Your decision on what plea to enter is the most important decision you will have to make.  We suggest that  you read the following explanations of all three pleas before entering your plea.

You must decide upon and enter a plea to the charge against you on or before the appearance date on your citation.  If you signed a citation in front of an officer, you did not plead guilty, but only signed a promise to appear in court on your appearance date.  There are three possible pleas to a complaint: 

Plea of Guilty

By a plea of guilty, you admit that you committed the act charged, that the act is prohibited by law, and that you have no defense for your act.   Before entering your plea of guilty, you need to understand the following:

The City has the burden of proving its case against you.  You have the right to hear the City's evidence and to require it to prove its case.  If it does not, the law does not require you to prove anything.

 Plea of Nolo Contendere

A plea of nolo contendere, also known as no contest, simply means that you do not wish to contest the City's charge against you.  Judgment will be entered by the Judge and a fine amount will be set. 

Plea of Not Guilty

A plea of not guilty means that you are informing the court that you deny guilt and that the City must prove its charges against you.  If you plead not guilty, you will need to decide whether to employ an attorney to represent you at trial.  You may defend yourself, but no one else except an attorney may represent you.  However if you are a minor (under 18 years of age) one of you parents should be present.

Under our American system of justice, all persons are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.  On a plea of "Not Guilty" a trial is held and the City is required to prove all the allegations against you as contained in the formal complaint "beyond a reasonable doubt", before a verdict of guilty can be reached. 

The Trial

Under Kansas law, you can be brought to trial only after a complaint has been filed, and you have entered a plea of not guilty to the charge or charges.  The complaint or citation is a document which alleges what you are supposed to have done, and that your actions are unlawful.

You have a right to inspect this complaint before trial, and have it read to you at trial.

You do not have the right to have your case tried before a jury in Municipal Court.

You are entitled to hear all testimony introduced against you.

You have a right to testify in your own behalf.  You also have a constitutional right not to testify.  If you choose not to testify, your refusal cannot and will not be used against you in determining your guilt or innocence.  However, if you do choose to testify, the prosecutor will have the right to cross examine you.

You may call witnesses to testify in your own behalf.  You also have the right to have the Court issue subpoenas for witnesses to ensure their appearance at trial.  However, you must furnish the names, addresses and telephone numbers of these witnesses to the Court as soon as possible, so that the witnesses may be located and the subpoenas served. (In all cases this must be supplied more than 1 day before the scheduled date of the trial). 

If you defend yourself, please consult the following sections of this brochure regarding the trial procedure and the manner of presenting your case.

Presenting the case

As in all trials, the City will present its case first by calling witnesses to testify against you.

After each prosecution witness has finished his/her testimony, you will have the right to cross examine him/her.  Your examination must be in the form of questions and you must not argue with the witness.  Do not attempt to tell your side of the story at this time.  You will have an opportunity to do so later in the trial.

After the prosecution has presented its case, you may present your case.  You have the right to call any witness who knows anything about the incident.

As stated previously, if you so desire, you may testify in your own behalf, but cannot be compelled to do so.  It is your own choice and your silence will not and cannot be used against you.

The Verdict

The verdict of the Judge will be based on the testimony of witnesses, evidence, and on the facts presented during the trial.  In making his determination he can only consider the testimony of the witnesses who are under oath.

If you are found guilty by the Judge, he will announce the penalty at that time.  You should be prepared to pay the fine at this time. 

Fines

The amount of fine assessed by the Court is affected by the facts and circumstances of the case.  Mitigating circumstances may increase the fine.   

The municipal Court

The judge will base his decision in any case on the City Ordinance involved, on the testimony, evidence presented, and on the facts shown during the trial only. 

CITY JUDGE

Bonnie Leidig

CITY ATTORNEY

Richard Dietz

MUNICIPAL COURT CLERK

Wanda Jameson

The Municipal Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine cases involving violations of the ordinances of Kirwin, Kansas.