Additional Magistrates for St. Louis County, Matter of

• Decision Date: 25 April 1979
• Docket Number: No. 61178,61178
• Citation: 580 S.W.2d 288
• Parties: In the matter of ADDITIONAL MAGISTRATES FOR ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Missouri. Hon. Ann Quill NIEDERLANDER et al., Intervenors-Respondents, v. ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Missouri, Amicus-Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

Page 288

580 S.W.2d 288

In the matter of ADDITIONAL MAGISTRATES FOR ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Missouri Hon. Ann Quill NIEDERLANDER et al., Intervenors-Respondents, v. ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Missouri, Amicus-Appellant.

No. 61178.

Supreme Court of Missouri, En Banc.

April 25, 1979.

Thomas W. Wehrle, St. Louis County, Counselor, Clayton, for appellant.

Douglas R. Beach, Clayton, for respondent.

Allan F. Stewart, Clayton, Jerry B. Wamser, St. Louis, for intervenors-respondents.

SEILER, Judge.

This is a direct appeal by St. Louis County from an order of the circuit court of St. Louis County increasing by two the number of magistrates in St. Louis County, pursuant to Mo.Const. art. V, § 18 (1945) and § 482.010 RSMo 1969.

On November 17, 1978 a petition was lodged by six members of the executive committee of the St. Louis County Bar Association requesting the number of magistrate judges in St. Louis County be increased from 11 to 13. The petition, signed by 702 registered county voters, including petitioners, stated that pursuant to Mo.Const. art. V, § 18 (1945) and § 482.010 RSMo 1969, the circuit court had the power to hear their petition, that over 500 qualified voters had signed the petition, that the number of cases in the magistrate court had significantly increased in the past year so that now over 73,000 cases are filed in the 11 magistrate districts in the county each year, that it is anticipated the number of new cases filed at the magistrate level will increase under the new judicial article effective January 2, 1979, that each magistrate has an average load of 6,673 cases per year, over 1,000 more than any other county, that there is a need for magistrates to hear certain cases now heard in circuit court, and that the need for additional magistrates is permanent. Notice was published in accordance with § 482.010(3) and art. V, § 18. A hearing was held on December 20, 1978. St. Louis County filed a motion to be made a party so as to further advise the court, and filed a motion to dismiss on grounds also asserted on appeal and which will be discussed Infra. Judge Ferriss issued an order stating "(m)otion of St. Louis County, Missouri to be made a party to this proceeding granted. St. Louis County, Missouri made a party to this proceeding as amicus and its motion to dismiss argued and overruled."

Mo.Const. art. V, § 18 (1945) stated:

"There shall be a magistrate court in each county. . . . In counties of 100,000 inhabitants or more there shall be two magistrates, and one additional magistrate for each additional 100,000 inhabitants, or major fraction thereof. According to the needs of justice the foregoing number of magistrates in any county may be increased by not more than two, or such increased number may be decreased, by order of the circuit court on petition, and after hearing on not less than thirty days' public notice. The salaries of magistrates shall be paid from the source or sources prescribed by law."

Section 482.010, RSMo 1969 stated:

"1. Magistrates, as provided for in this chapter, shall be elected at the general election to be held in 1946, and every four years thereafter, and shall hold their offices for four years, or until their successors are elected or appointed, commissioned and qualified.

"2. In counties of . . . one hundred thousand inhabitants or more there shall be two magistrates and one additional magistrate for each additional one hundred thousand inhabitants, or major fraction thereof.

"3. According to the needs of justice, the foregoing number of magistrates in any county may be increased by not more than two, or such increased number may be decreased, by order of the circuit court, on petition of five hundred qualified voters of the county, and after hearing on public notice to be published in some newspaper of general circulation in the county once each week for three consecutive weeks immediately preceding said hearing. No petition for additional magistrate shall be granted unless the circuit court finds from the evidence heard that the administration of justice requires that the number of magistrates be increased, and that the need for additional magistrate or magistrates is not temporary but appears to the circuit court that a permanent need exists. Such additional magistrates shall be appointed by the governor when authorized by proper order of the circuit court certified to him, and such appointee shall hold office until the next general election at which election a successor shall be elected to hold office for the unexpired term or full term as the case may be, said terms to be identical with that of other magistrates."

Only respondents put on evidence at the hearing, although appellant made extensive cross-examination of respondents' witnesses. Robert G. Ruhland, director, department of judicial administration, St. Louis County, presented and discussed statistics concerning the workload in the magistrate courts of St. Louis County for the year July 1, 1976 through June 30, 1977 as set forth in Office of State Courts Administrator, Judicial Department of Missouri Annual Statistical Report 1977, (1977), exhibit No. 1, and as summarized by Mr. Ruhland in exhibit No. 2. These exhibits show that, although St. Louis County had only 8.94% Of all magistrates in Missouri, over 66,000 cases, or 19.38% Of all magistrate cases, were filed in that county. The average case load per magistrate was thus 6,673 in St. Louis County, ¹ although it was only 3,079 on the average statewide. This was 1,000 more cases per magistrate than were filed in Jackson County, the circuit most similar to St. Louis County, and three times the number of cases per magistrate in the city of St. Louis.

Mr. Ruhland further testified that some magistrates were assigned non-contested divorces from the circuit court in an effort to reduce a backlog in the circuit court of both contested and non-contested cases, but that not enough cases were being processed this way and the backlog continues. However, he also testified that two new circuit judges would take office in January 1979 and that should help relieve the logjam. He did not know the amount of time actually spent by the magistrates on the bench, but stated that greater responsibilities repose in the magistrates once they become associate circuit judges. In addition, municipal courts in St. Louis County would be abolished unless the municipalities elected to keep them as of the effective date of the new judicial article. As of the hearing, December 20, 1978, 63 municipalities had determined to keep their courts, while the remaining 29 had not yet so elected. ²

In addition, Ms. Francis J. Menke, administrative officer of the Fifth District Magistrate Court of St. Louis County, who had much experience as a courts administrator, stated that a definite increase in court and magistrate time had occurred in the past nine years; that more cases were being litigated, with the default rate in civil cases in the fifth district going from 90% To 60%; that the assignment of small claims court cases to the magistrates since 1976 had added an average of 45-50 cases per week to the magistrate courts; that as many civil cases were filed in division five in the first half of 1978 as in all of 1977; that traffic cases had increased 400% Between 1976 and 1978; that the magistrate in the fifth district worked weekends; and that no additional caseload could be handled.

Other witnesses, including Magistrates O'Neill and Eberwein, and two practicing lawyers, testified that litigation had increased in recent years, as had the magistrates' duties due to small claims court and uncontested divorce assignments; that the size of dockets had increased, and it took much time to call the docket; that there was now a delay in getting a trial setting in a magistrate court, etc.

Mr. Wehrle, counsel for St. Louis County, brought out that the fifth district handled many more civil cases than other magistrate districts in St. Louis County. Thus, it had 3,444 civil and 2,517 traffic cases, while the 10th district had only 470 civil but almost 8,000 traffic cases. He also elicited testimony that under the new judicial system, associate circuit judges would be assigned cases at random, and that this could alleviate the imbalance of cases filed caused by the then current method of hearing traffic cases in the district in which the violation occurred and of allowing lawyers to pick the court in which they wished to file their civil cases. Additionally, Mr. Wehrle noted that while one magistrate stated he could not handle 1500 civil cases a year, other districts handled double that number. There was also testimony that a large number of traffic cases may take as much time as a smaller number of civil cases, and thus that the mere number of cases filed is not conclusive of the magistrate time actually spent.

The respondents elicited testimony as to the effect of the larger number of cases assigned to county magistrates as compared to other magistrates in the state. Thus, Ms. Menke and Magistrate O'Neill testified that there is a correlation between the number of cases filed and time spent on the bench, although Ms. Menke also stated that due to the fact that the same case can take longer or shorter depending on the magistrate and lawyers involved, the number of cases does not necessarily reflect the amount of magistrate time spent. A practicing attorney gave testimony as to the rise in litigated cases and attendant delays. Magistrate Eberwein noted that the number of jury trials had increased, and that he spent about ten hours per day on court work, with about 35 hours per week devoted to time on the bench. All witnesses testified that they believed more magistrates were needed, although Magistrate O'Neill stated that he did not personally feel overworked despite spending about 30 hours per month on small claims cases since 1976 in addition to his other work. Magistrate O'Neill also...