Judge Dan Adey recently attended the 2008 annual conference of the Missouri Municipal and Associate Circuit Judges Association at Lake of the Ozarks. Adey is the municipal judge for the City of Summersville.
Municipal judges are judges of the circuit courts and are subject to requirements for continuing legal education in order to receive annual updates on new laws passed by the legislature, important decisions of the Missouri Supreme Court and the court of appeals as well as developments in the judicial branch of government. Attendance at the three-day conference of the MMACJA fulfills a significant part of that requirement.
The Missouri Municipal and Associate Circuit Judges Association is composed of municipal judges, both lawyer and non-lawyer, and associate circuit judges. These judges preside over municipal and associate circuit courts in Missouri. The municipal and associate circuit divisions hear the greatest majority of the cases heard by the Missouri judiciary. The purpose of the association is to assist and train its members to better perform their duties as judgers.
Since its founding in 1965, the association has emphasized the importance of maintaining the highest possible judicial standards in the courts. The association has grown from a small group of 12 to more than 300 members.
Among the topics included in the 2008 conference were: updates on recently enacted laws; an education program on the proper handling of bonds; alternative tools for dealing with alcohol offenders; ethics; important questions and timely issues facing judges; the use of “drug recognition experts” in court; an update on recent cases; presentation on recent decisions on search and seizure issues; and a presentation by the Missouri Supreme Court.
There were multiple guest speakers at the event, which was attended by 350 judges.