Ferguson Commission seeks municipal court reforms

FERGUSON, Mo. -- The Ferguson Commission wants to overhaul St. Louis County's municipal court system by consolidating operations and eliminating practices that have been labeled abusive.

Gov. Jay Nixon appointed the commission during the unrest following the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer in August. A working group met Tuesday and unveiled the proposal.

A bill awaiting Nixon's signature would impose municipal court reforms statewide, but the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the commission plan would go even further for the 81 municipal courts in St. Louis County.

The plan calls for direct supervision of the courts by the Missouri Supreme Court and consolidation, though an exact number isn't specified.

"This is what you do to administrate justice fairly," said Rich McClure, a co-chairman of the Ferguson Commission.

Brown, who was black and unarmed, died Aug. 9 after being shot by white police officer Darren Wilson. A St. Louis County grand jury and the U.S. Justice Department declined to file charges, but the shooting touched off significant unrest and helped spur a national look at the way police and courts interact with black residents.

Frank Vatterott, a municipal judge in Overland, declined to say whether he approved or disapproved of the idea. He is leading a committee of judges that is pursuing internal reforms.

Vatterott said he doesn't believe the Missouri Supreme Court has the statutory authority to force consolidation.

But without consolidation of municipal courts, "the system falls apart because there are so many moving pieces and nobody can fully monitor" so many courts, said Saint Louis University law professor Brendan Roediger, a member of the working group.

Other changes would bar cities from jailing people on minor, non-violent offenses, or issuing warrants to people who fail to appear in court on those charges. Municipalities could only hold someone for four hours on a non-violent ordinance violation out of another court.

Nearly 500,000 existing warrants issued for failing to appear in municipal court would be erased.

Also, juveniles facing municipal violations that could result in jail time would be assigned an attorney.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com