(1) Any court of this state may establish a Violations Bureau and designate the clerk or deputy clerk of the court or any other appropriate person to act as a violations clerk for the Violations Bureau. A Violations Bureau shall be established by each circuit court unless the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court issues a written exemption to the presiding judge for the court. The violations clerk shall serve under the direction and control of the court appointing the clerk.
(2) A violations clerk may exercise authority over any violation. A court establishing a Violations Bureau shall by order specify the violations that are subject to the authority of the violations clerk.
(3) Except as provided in subsection (6) of this section, the violations clerk shall accept:
(a) Written appearance, waiver of trial, plea of guilty and payment of fine, costs and assessments for violations that are subject to the authority of the violations clerk; or
(b) Payment of base fine amounts for violations that are subject to the authority of the violations clerk.
(4) The court shall establish schedules, within the limits prescribed by law, of the amounts of penalties to be imposed for first, second and subsequent violations, designating each violation specifically or by class. The order of the court establishing the schedules shall be prominently posted in the place where penalties established under the schedule are paid. All amounts must be paid to, receipted by and accounted for by the violations clerk in the same manner as other payments on money judgments are received by the court.
(5) Any person charged with a violation within the authority of the violations clerk may:
(a) Upon signing an appearance, plea of guilty and waiver of trial, pay the clerk the penalty established for the violation charged, including any costs and assessments authorized by law.
(b) Pay the clerk the base fine amount established for the violation. Payment of the base fine amount under this paragraph constitutes consent to forfeiture of the base fine amount and disposition of the violation by the clerk as provided by the rules of the court. Payment of base fine amount under this paragraph is not consent to forfeiture of the base fine amount if the payment is accompanied by a plea of not guilty or a request for hearing.
(6) A person who has been found guilty of, or who has signed a plea of guilty or no contest to, one or more previous offenses in the preceding 12 months within the jurisdiction of the court shall not be permitted to appear before the violations clerk unless the court, by general order applying to certain specified offenses, permits such appearance. [1995 c.292 §1; 1997 c.801 §149; 1999 c.59 §30; 1999 c.1051 §130]
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