Governor Jay Nixon will announce today (July 9) whether he will sign or veto Senate Bill 5, a landmark in municipal court reform.
The bill – steered to passage by state Sen. Eric Schmitt (with assistance from the Ferguson Commission, Arch City Defenders, SLU Law and others) – caps the amount of money that cities can collect from traffic fines and fees at 12.5 percent of a city’s budget in St. Louis County, and 20 percent in the rest of the state. This is down from the 30 percent currently allowed by state law, a restriction that is not currently enforced.
It also caps fines and court costs for minor traffic offenses at $300, and no one would be sentenced to jail for not being able to pay a fine.
Also, citizens would be able vote to dissolve their local governments if they don’t turn over excess traffic revenue to the state within 60 days – effective January 1, 2016.
State Rep. Clem Smith, who represents parts of about 25 municipalities in St. Louis County, opposes the bill because he said it puts an unfair condition on St. Louis County compared to the other areas of the states.
“Everyone wanted to say, ‘We did something for Ferguson,’” Smith said, “but unfortunately it created a double standard for the residents of the state. I can’t understand why anyone would vote for unequal treatment.”
Sen. Jay Wasson, R-Nixa., sponsored the language that set the traffic fine revenue cap at 20 percent for rural areas, after expressing concern that small rural towns could be negatively affected by the bill. Smith said it was unfair that the legislature reached a compromise with these areas but not with those representing municipalities with majority African-American populations.
Senate Bill 5 adjusts the 1995 Macks Creek law, which limits cities and towns to using only 30 percent of revenue collected from traffic citations in their budgets. Once a notorious speed trap, Macks Creek is a now-unincorporated village near the Lake of the Ozarks. At one time, more than 75 percent of its operating budget came from speeding tickets and other traffic citations.
Nixon will announce his decision at 2 p.m. at the Eastern District Court of Appeals at Old Post Office Building in downtown St. Louis city.
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