Missouri § 50.565 - County law enforcement restitution fund may be established, proceeds designated for deposit in, use of moneys — audit of fund.

§ 50.565. County law enforcement restitution fund may be established, proceeds designated for deposit in, use of moneys — audit of fund.

1.  A county commission may establish by ordinance or order a fund whose proceeds may be expended only for the purposes provided for in subsection 3 of this section.  The fund shall be designated as a county law enforcement restitution fund and shall be under the supervision of a board of trustees consisting of two citizens of the county appointed by the presiding commissioner of the county, two citizens of the county appointed by the sheriff of the county, and one citizen of the county appointed by the county coroner or medical examiner.  The citizens so appointed shall not be current or former elected officials, current or former employees of the sheriff's department, the office of the prosecuting attorney for the county, office of the county commissioners, or the county treasurer's office.  If a county does not have a coroner or medical examiner, the county treasurer shall appoint one citizen to the board of trustees.

2.  Money from the county law enforcement restitution fund shall only be expended upon the approval of a majority of the members of the county law enforcement restitution fund's board of trustees and only for the purposes provided for by subsection 3 of this section.

3.  Money from the county law enforcement restitution fund shall only be expended for the following purposes:

(1)  Narcotics investigation, prevention, and intervention;

(2)  Purchase of law enforcement-related equipment and supplies for the sheriff's office;

(3)  Matching funds for federal or state law enforcement grants;

(4)  Funding for the reporting of all state and federal crime statistics or information; and

(5)  Any county law enforcement-related expense, including those of the prosecuting attorney, approved by the board of trustees for the county law enforcement restitution fund that is reasonably related to investigation, charging, preparation, trial, and disposition of criminal cases before the courts of the state of Missouri.

4.  The county commission may not reduce any law enforcement agency's budget as a result of funds the law enforcement agency receives from the county law enforcement restitution fund.  The restitution fund is to be used only as a supplement to the law enforcement agency's funding received from other county, state, or federal funds.

5.  County law enforcement restitution funds shall be audited as are all other county funds.

6.  No court may order the assessment and payment authorized by this section if the plea of guilty or the finding of guilt is to the charge of speeding, careless and imprudent driving, any charge of violating a traffic control signal or sign, or any charge which is a class C misdemeanor or an infraction.  No assessment and payment ordered pursuant to this section may exceed three hundred dollars for any charged offense.

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(L. 2004 H.B. 1055, A.L. 2007 S.B. 22)

---- end of effective  28 Aug 2007 ----

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