Change to Defendant's Ability to Use Plead and Pay
Change to Defendant's
Ability to Use Plead and Pay
Once a summons has been issued on a Traffic case, the
defendant will no longer be eligible for the Plead and Pay option on Case.net. This change is
necessary to be in compliance with Supreme Court Rules 38.06(b) and 38.10(d) for circuit courts, and
37.49(c)(2) and 37.49(e) for municipal courts. These rules state that once a
summons is issued, a violation bureau ticket cannot be paid unless it is at the
court’s discretion. Since it is at the
court’s discretion, the automatic functionality of SMC cannot default to allow
the payment.
Effective Date → October 18, 2019: This will allow courts time to evaluate their current procedures and to make any changes in their process as needed.
Potential Change in Court Process May Be Needed
If your court currently uses a summons to notify defendants
of a change to their initial appearance court date, using a summons will turn
off Plead and Pay for that defendant.
Solutions
Use the newly approved forms called Notice of New Court
Date (MU150 and CR400) to notify a defendant of a change to his or her initial court
date. These forms are available now in
Show-Me Courts. Using the notice form allows the case
to remain eligible to be resolved through Plead and Pay up until the initial court
date.
If your court chooses to issue a summons instead of a notice,
at the court’s discretion, payment may still be accepted on a violation bureau
case in mail or in person, even if the case is not eligible to be resolved
through Plead and Pay, per Supreme Court Rules 38.10(d) and 37.49(e).
Other Information
- The uniform citation is not considered a summons as it is a violation notice per Supreme Court Rules 37.33 and 38.07.
- It is best practice on traffic cases to issue a summons for failure to appear prior to issuing a warrant.
- Plead and Pay Frequently Asked Questions
- Information provided at 2019 legislative update webinars