What is the law on Battery in Merriam Municipal Court?
The city of Merriam is like every other city in the Kansas City, metro. They have a city court that hears cases involving violations of city laws. The court has it's own judge, it's own prosecutor and has a regular court docket to handle court business. Just like every other city in the Metro, the city of Merriam has their own laws, those laws are called city ordinances. The entire collection of city laws is called the "city code." The city code is voluminous, it covers all types of different things that may go on in the city, from building regulations, to signage of businesses and even the prohibition on criminal acts. As one might guess the city code is promulgated by the city council. The city council has the ability to write laws and vote on them to make them laws. Writing each individual law is cumbersome and costly, so most cities will adopt a prewritten set of code in it's entirety. Merriam is one of such cities. The city of Merriam has adopted the Kansas Uniform Code for Kansas Municipalities. The KUCKM is an exhaustive code that encompasses most common crime in Kansas Municipal Court. The law prohibiting Battery in Merriam is below.
Sec. 3.1. Battery
(a) Battery is:
Knowingly or recklessly causing bodily harm to another person; or
Knowingly causing physical contact with another person when done in a rude, insulting or angry manner.
(b) Battery is a Class B violation. (K.S.A. 21-5413)
Possible Punishment
*Class B Violations are punishable by up to 180 days in the Johnson County Jail, however, most Class B Violations are eligible for probation
You've been charged with Battery in Merriam Municipal Court, now what do you do?
First off, you're already doing the right thing, researching the law. Researching the law when you are charged with violating the law is a good place to start. The problem with the law is it's not as expansive as one might like. Rarely in the law does it incorporate a particular fact scenario, there is very little, "I did this... did I break the law?" So much of it can be left to interpretation and that ambiguity can lead to more questions. After you've read the law, review the commonly asked questions associated with Battery to gather more information and possibly bring questions to the forefront that you might not have thought about. Once you've digested that information it's time to sit down with a lawyer that has experience in Merriam Municipal Court. That will be your time to get some real world knowledge about the Merriam Municipal Court, their processes and procedures, as well as, the people and personalities involved in the decision making pt of your case. Having a lawyer that knows the Court is nearly as important as having a lawyer that knows the law.