No jail for parking violation fines, Kansas City mayor and councilwoman propose
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas announced Thursday that he and Councilwoman Andrea Bough are proposing the creation of an administrative court to handle parking tickets and non-moving violations.
According to Lucas, “incarceration would no longer be imposed in any part of the process” under the proposal.
Lucas also announced he was working with Councilwoman Heather Hall and Kansas City’s Municipal Court on alternatives for jail for those in mental health and substance abuse crises.
“Treatment is the better and smarter way,” Lucas wrote on Twitter. “Kansas City government is committed to change.”
The two proposed ordinances are part of a push for local criminal justice reform by Lucas.
Earlier this year, Lucas created the Mayoral Marijuana Pardon Program aimed at providing second chances for people of low-level municipal marijuana offenses. He announced his first pardon earlier this week.
Last month, City Council members voted to halt city penalties for marijuana possession, effectively decriminalizing most offenses.
“When I ran for this office, I spent a lot of time talking about the need for local criminal justice reform,” Lucas wrote on Twitter. “A year in, I’m proud of the work we’ve done with marijuana policy to change outcomes for thousands of Kansas Citians.”
As part of aftermath from the riots, unrest and judicial investigations in Ferguson, Missouri, legislation was passed in 2016 to reform municipal courts, reducing municipal court fines and eliminating jail time for many offenses.
Unfortunately, Lucas said, it’s common for those who can’t pay fines or won’t appear in court to receive arrest warrants. Lucas and Bough are proposing to change that in Kansas City.
The proposed ordinance says that if a civil fine is not paid and no request for a hearing is received, the fine will constitute a personal obligation of the violator and may be collected by the city by appropriate legal means.
