City Reacts To Patch Opinion Piece On Municipal Court

City Council members spent time Monday night discussing a recent Creve Coeur Patch opinion piece which sought to take a look at a day in the life of Municipal Court, but ended up .

The end result is that the opinion piece may have raised the ire of court staff, as well, and at Ward 4 Councilwoman Jeanne Rhoades' request, ended up on the council agenda.

Monday, city leaders sought to downplay any notion that what goes on in Municipal Court is at all secretive. While the author of the Patch opinion piece wrote that on the night he visited, the public was kept out of the courtroom for a time while lawyers were inside, City Administrator Mark Perkins told Council members, "We feel the court operates certainly in a very public manner."

Chief Glenn Eidman told Council members that the practice of allowing attorneys in first to file an entry of appearance is a common one, and told me after the meeting that in terms of official court business, a case does not get adjudicated during this period. 

Creve Coeur Patch is happy to share the city court staff's complete rebuttal, which was included in material prepared for Monday night's council meeting. You can find it in the attached PDF file with the meeting's agenda under the heading, "Municipal Court Patch Article of June 30, 2011".

Creve Coeur Patch encourages and invites a transparent discussion of issues impacting the community. If you have something to say, say it on Patch!