Municipal Court Building Trust in In 2024, Saint Louis County marked 10
years since the death of Michael Brown. The results of the Ferguson Report revealed significant issues with the local justice system, including excessive fines and a focus on revenue over justice. Saint Louis County’s Municipal Court made significant reforms following that report to improve the management of fines and costs assessed against defendants.
Those reforms include:
• Ability to pay: Judges prioritize evaluating each defendant’s ability to pay fines and allow defendants to participate in setting manageable payment terms, minimizing undue financial barriers.
• Flexible payment plans: A 60-day grace period is provided before cases are sent to collections. A warrant is not issued for failure to pay.
• Payment extensions: Defendants can request extensions via phone call, reducing barriers to compliance.
• Reduce financial burdens: The Court generally assesses only one set of Court costs per traffic stop, regardless of the number of citations issued. This policy creates a system that doesn’t exploit people for revenue generation.
• Streamlined bail & bond process: The Department of Justice Services accepts bail payments for all municipal defendants. This means that if someone has multiple municipal warrants, they can pay their bail in one place instead of having to go to different locations throughout the County.
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Due to these reforms, Municipal Court issued 1,100 fewer warrants in 2024 compared to 2023. Additionally, Municipal Court closed 21,108 cases in 2024, an increase of 4,472 from the previous year, while also increasing collections per case from $82.40 in 2023 to $86.12 in 2024 and assessing fewer fines and court costs.
“For the past several years, the Court has worked to educate the public that we are here to help them receive fair treatment as we seek justice for municipal violations if they just come to Court. And these numbers tell me that we are rebuilding public trust and confidence in our Court.”
Courtney Whiteside
Director of Saint Louis County Municipal Court
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