§ 2-1551. Same—Background checks/investigations of persons nominated.

(a)

Background check/investigation required . No person shall be nominated to serve as a judge of the municipal division unless, if requested by the municipal judicial nominating commission, that person has agreed to and been the subject of a background check/investigation provided to the municipal judicial nominating commission.

(b)

Performance of the background check/investigation. If requested by the municipal judicial nominating commission, each applicant shall request, and pay for, a background check/investigation conducted by a provider of such services approved by the municipal judicial nominating commission and cause the report of that background check/investigation to be provided directly to the municipal judicial nominating commission and the applicant. At a minimum, the municipal judicial nominating commission shall require a background check/investigation of all persons nominated by the municipal judicial nominating commission.

(c)

Nature of background check/investigation. The report of the background check/investigation will be limited to the information described below from the sources indicated below:

(1)

Suspensions or revocations of driving licenses or privileges or points or other strikes assessed against driving privileges as indicated in state drivers license or motor vehicle records;

(2)

Credit records indicating nonpayment of debts, including judgments therefor;

(3)

Tax records indicating nonpayment of city, county, state and/or federal taxes currently owed, including penalties and judgments therefor; including, but not limited to, earnings and profits tax and business license tax (the payment of which can be evidenced by a tax clearance letter issued by the city's revenue division of the finance department), as well as city personal property tax and real property tax and tax liens on any property owned by the applicant;

(4)

Education records indicating enrollment, graduation from and degrees and honors received from accredited colleges and law schools and completion of, and grades received for, classes or courses started or taken;

(5)

Dissolutions of marriages, applications for, or disputes over, child custody, nonpayment of child support, nonpayment of alimony or maintenance to a spouse or former spouse, failure to comply with court-ordered conveyances of real or personal property, bank accounts or money to a spouse or former spouse, allegations of physical, mental or verbal abuse and allegations of alcohol, drug or other substance abuse or mental illness obtained from court records;

(6)

Suspensions, restrictions or limitations imposed on gambling as identified in the records of the gaming commissions or other regulatory bodies of Missouri, Iowa and Kansas;

(7)

Being arrested, taken into custody, indicted, convicted, tried for or charged with a felony, misdemeanor, infraction of ordinance violation, including matters dismissed or nolle prossed by a prosecutor, suspended impositions of sentence; convictions, orders to pay restitution and pardons, including those or any other complaints erased by law, whether formal or informal or pending or closed;

(8)

Standing of licensure as an attorney and any complaints, revocations, suspensions, reprimands or citations for breach of ethics or professional conduct by or from a court, judicial commission or bar association or committee thereof; and

(9)

Whether a party to any civil or criminal legal proceeding and the nature of proceeding as indicated in either open or closed court records.

The report of the background check/investigation will not include the nominees social security number, date of birth or current residential address; nor will it include copies of any federal, state or local tax returns.

(d)

Dissemination of reports of background checks / investigations, completed questionnaires, tax clearance letters and letters of reference. The reports of the results of any background check/investigation shall be provided to each member of the municipal judicial nominating commission. For each nominee subsequently submitted to the council, the chair of the municipal judicial nominating commission shall deliver, or cause to be delivered, directly to the mayor and each member of the council a written communication that a background check/investigation was completed and that the results of the background check/investigation either contained no information of concern to the municipal judicial nominating commission or did contain information that the municipal judicial nominating commission believed it needed to bring to the attention of the council, a copy of the completed questionnaires submitted to the commission by the nominated persons, tax clearance letters and letters of references, with the nominees social security number, date of birth and current residential address redacted. The city manager shall not be provided copies of any such documents and shall have no responsibility for disseminating or retaining copies of any such documents. No member of the commission or member of the council shall disseminate copies of these documents to any other person. However, nothing in this subsection shall prevent, restrict or prohibit the mayor or a councilmember from questioning a nominee about information contained in these documents or an applicant from disseminating his or her own report or records. reports shall be retained as required by state law.

(e)

Violation; penalty therefor. Any person that violates the provisions of subsection (d) concerning the limitations on the dissemination of completed questionnaires or reports of background checks/investigations or the retention of such reports shall be deemed guilty of a violation of this section. Conviction of such a violation shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $500.00 or by imprisonment of not more than 20 days or both such fine and imprisonment. This penalty shall not apply to an applicant who disseminates his or her own report or records.

(Ord. No. 070033, § 1, 1-18-07; Ord. No. 070188, § 1, 2-15-07; Ord. No. 070772, § 1, 10-25-07)