Rule 18.01 Definitions

As used in this Rule 18, the following terms mean:

(a) "Accredited program or activity," a program or activity sponsored by the committee, the Missouri Municipal and Associate Circuit Judges Association, the National Judicial College, the National Judges Association, or a program or activity sponsored by The Missouri Bar or other organization that is devoted exclusively to judicial education or directly contributes to the professional competency of judges;

(b) "Certification," the course of instruction and examination prescribed by the committee that nonlawyer judges shall complete in order to continue to serve beyond their initial six months in office;

(c) "Committee," the Municipal Judge Education Committee;

(d) "Credit hour," at least fifty minutes of instruction or the equivalent;

(e) "Lawyer," a member of The Missouri Bar except lawyers paying an annual enrollment fee pursuant to Rule 6.01(j)(3);

(f) "Municipal judge," a judge of the municipal division of a circuit court, including any provisional or substitute judge, who is not also an associate circuit judge;

(g) "Nonlawyer judge," a municipal judge not licensed to practice law in this state;

(h) "Reporting year," the twelve months between July first of one year and June 30th of the following year;

(i) "State courts administrator," the office of state courts administrator.

Regulations For Continuing Legal Education

The Missouri Supreme Court, approved the following Regulation for Municipal Judge Continuing Education Requirements and Nonlawyer Certification:

Regulation 18.01. Definitions

As used in Regulations 18.01 to 18.06:

(a) Accredited programs or activities include:

(1) Programs or activities offered by a sponsor already accredited or identified by The Missouri Bar pursuant to Rule 15 that also conform with the requirements of Rule 18.01(a);

(2) Programs or activities approved by the committee pursuant to Regulation 18.05(c); or

(3) Speaker credit pursuant to Regulation 18.06.1.

(b) Minutes of instruction or the equivalent do not include introductory remarks, coffee or meal breaks or business meetings.

(c) The number of credit hours of continuing legal education completed in any approved program or activity by a municipal judge shall be computed by:

(1) Determining the total minutes of instruction or the equivalent;

(2) Dividing the total by 50; and

(3) Rounding the quotient up or down to the nearest one-tenth of an hour.

(d) An accredited sponsor is a sponsor all of whose programs or activities are accredited.

(e) An identified sponsor is a sponsor approved to offer a single accredited program or activity.

(f) Judicial ethics or professionalism programs, seminars, or activities include but are not limited to programs, seminars, or activities, or designated portions thereof, as follows:

(1) Professionalism - instruction concerning judicial ethics; the duties of judges to the judicial system, courts, and the public; the history of the judiciary; rules of judicial conduct; and jurisprudence and philosophy of law;

(2) Judicial ethics - instruction concerning Rule 2.

(g) COVID-19 Extension of Reporting Year.

As a result of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the reporting year for 2019-2020 will be for the 15 months between July 1, 2019, and September 30, 2020. Any extra credit hours earned during the 2019-2020 reporting year may be carried over as prescribed in Regulation 18.06(d).