Section 40.095

Title V MILITARY AFFAIRS AND POLICE

Chapter 40

Effective - 28 Aug 1984   

  40.095.  Military judge — appointment — qualifications — duties — restrictions. — 1.  The authority convening a general or special court-martial shall detail a military judge thereto.  A military judge shall preside over each open session of the court-martial to which the judge had been detailed.

  2.  A military judge shall be a commissioned officer of the National Guard or a retired officer of the reserve components of the Armed Forces of the United States, shall be a member of the Missouri Bar and shall be certified to be qualified for such duty by the state judge advocate.  The state judge advocate may recommend to the adjutant general that the adjutant general order to active duty retired personnel of the United States Armed Forces who are qualified to act as military judges.

  3.  No person is eligible to act as military judge in a case if the person is the accuser or a witness for the prosecution or has acted as investigation officer or a counsel in the same case.

  4.  Neither the convening authority nor any member of his staff shall prepare or review any report concerning the effectiveness, fitness or efficiency of a military judge which relates to the judge's performance of duty as such.  A commissioned officer who is certified to be qualified for duty as a military judge of a court-martial may perform such duties only when he is assigned and directly responsible to the state judge advocate and may perform duties of a judicial or nonjudicial nature other than those relating to the primary duty as a military judge of a court-martial when such duties are assigned to him by or with the approval of the state judge advocate.  The military judge of a court-martial may not consult with the members of the court on the form of the findings, except in the presence of the accused, trial counsel, and defense counsel, nor may the judge vote with the members of the court.

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(L. 1984 H.B. 1035 § 27)