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Schmitt pre-files bill to continue municipal court reforms

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, has filed a bill that will build upon last session’s SB5, which limited the amount of revenue municipalities could derive from traffic fines and court costs. The new bill seeks to also cap revenue derived from ordinance violations.

The senator said the bill is an effort to preempt new “taxation by citation schemes.”

Schmitt
Schmitt

“This reform of limiting a city’s revenue from all ordinance violations will further restore justice to our municipal courts,” Schmitt said. “It is unconscionable cities would use fine money – whether from traffic tickets or silly violations like the location of one’s barbecue grill or the way their blinds are hanging – to prop up bloated bureaucracies. It is also disturbing to me to know that local bureaucrats are roaming neighborhoods looking at the yards and windows of private homes seeking new revenue. Missourians have had enough of the big government mentality of small governments who are shaking down residents, especially poor and disadvantaged citizens, to prop up their budgets and hold onto power.”

In addition to limiting the revenue municipalities can raise from non-moving ordinance violations, Schmitt will also file legislation that will prohibit traffic ticket quotas from being used.

“Local governments exist to serve their citizens,” Schmitt said. “There is a need for enforcement of the law, but when enforcement turns into profiteering and bullying, we can no longer stand idly by while our fellow residents are exploited and our communities are so negatively impacted.”