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Lee's Summit judges press council for more court days and higher pay as caseloads grow
Summary
Elected municipal judges told the council that the city's two‑day‑a‑week court system—unchanged since 1981—is overloaded by population growth and rising filings; judges asked for more court days, additional dockets and market‑rate compensation including retirement, while council requested an audit, comparator data and outside counsel on midterm pay issues.
Judges Maxwell Lopez and Alteri told the Lee’s Summit City Council on Nov. 3 that the municipal court is operating well beyond the structure set in place decades ago and that growth in population and filings has stretched staff, judges and courtroom capacity.
"We preside over a lot of criminal cases involving dangerous activities," Judge Maxwell Lopez said in the council chambers, listing domestic assault, illegal firearm discharges, high‑speed chases and felony‑level retail thefts among case types facing the court. She and Judge Alteri described repeated overcrowding on docket days, prisoners waiting, and safety and supervision challenges for court staff.
The judges asked the council to fund more court dates — they proposed a modest "band‑aid" expansion to increase court days from two total weekly sessions (one per judge) to roughly four operating docket days with an overlapping day so judges could meet and conduct administrative business. They also requested compensation that would get the municipal bench closer to comparator markets, including retirement benefits, saying pay lagged behind peer cities and hampered the ability to be in court more frequently.
City Manager Mark Dunning and outside legal counsel flagged legal limits. Dunning reviewed Missouri constitutional and statutory language — echoed in the city charter — that generally prohibits midterm increases in elected officials’ compensation unless an "additional duties" exception applies. Staff counsel and outside counsel have advised that duties extrinsic to the office — for example, newly codified supervisory responsibilities or establishment of specialty dockets (mental‑health court, drug court) — can meet the exception in some cases.
Council members requested more data and legal analysis before any action. They asked for a municipal court operational audit (underway and expected to wrap in February with a presentation in March), monthly court activity reports, detailed comparator pay data, and a briefing from outside counsel present in council discussion so the council can evaluate whether a midterm increase is defensible or whether an intervening election approach would be more appropriate. Councilmember Carlisle said she would be open to an incremental increase tied to codified supervisory duties but cautioned against wholesale midterm salary changes without fuller analysis.
The council did not vote on compensation at the meeting. It directed staff to return with the audit results, comparative compensation data, and to retain or engage outside legal counsel for an advisory opinion on what pay changes, if any, could be made before the next election without violating state or charter restrictions.
What’s next: Staff will finish the municipal court audit and return with the analysis and legal guidance; council indicated willingness to consider incremental steps tied to documented additional duties or to set a new compensation level effective after the next intervening election.
