Correction: This story has been revised to say that approval of Amendment 6 will allow the legislature to consider reimposing a $3 court fee to support retirement programs for sheriffs.
Missouri voters are being asked this year to allow court fees to be levied to support the salaries and benefits of current and former sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys and circuit attorneys.
The proposed Constitutional Amendment 6, sponsored by Sen. Rusty Black, R-Chillicothe, seeks to provide constitutional authority for the legislature to impose a court fee on criminal and traffic cases to fund the Missouri Sheriffs’ Retirement System. Such a fee would only be applied to those who plead or are found guilty.
Such fees were found unconstitutional by the Missouri Supreme Court in 2021. Before that ruling, a $3 fee generated an average of $2.1 million annually for the retirement fund.
The court determined that the fee was unconstitutional because the money collected was not going toward the administration of justice as the recipients were retired. Passage of the amendment would specifically qualify these fees as part of the administration of justice, creating a legal way for the fees to be imposed.
The $3 fee for sheriffs' retirement had been in place since 1983.
In a statement to the Missourian, the Missouri Sheriffs’ Retirement System said if the measure does not pass on Nov. 5, the retirement system would be bankrupt in nine years.
The National Police Accountability Project has argued that the amendment, if passed, could pose a conflict of interest for sheriffs as their retirement may be linked to the number of arrests and resulting court cases.
In its statement, the retirement system argued that sheriffs were not focused on driving revenue, and made assurances that funding their retirement through arrests was not part of a sheriff’s thought process on duty.
Another criticism of the amendment is that these court fees could pose a detriment to people who can’t afford them.
“It’s a bad idea because it places the burden of funding salaries and pensions for prosecutors and sheriffs on the back of very poor people,” said Dan Viets, former president of the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “Court costs should not be used as a substitute for taxes.”
Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey, who serves on the board of the Missouri Sheriffs’ Retirement System, downplayed this concern.
“Judges can still waive the fees if it creates a hardship on the individual,” Carey said. “It happens all the time in Boone County Court, if it’s someone of a lower socioeconomic status, the judge just waives the court fees.”
Viets also said that he believes the passage of this amendment could expand these fees beyond just sheriffs and prosecutors.
“It won’t be limited to sheriffs and prosecutors,” Viets said. “Soon it will be the judges, the clerks, the bailiffs, all the other court administration people.”
Carey denied that this would be the case as well, saying that the language in the statute only lists the current and former sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys and circuit attorneys.
State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, D-Columbia, supported the bill in the House and also denied that the bill would expand the fees to others.
“Opponents to this, I think, are worried that it’s just gonna give the courts carte blanche to add fees and that is not the case,” Steinhoff said.
Steinhoff added that she would prefer the state find a way of funding the retirement system without the court fee but said that this measure would keep funding stable.
“It’s not the ideal solution, but it is the practical solution and the one that keeps us moving forward,” Steinhoff said.
