Missouri Supreme Court strikes down $3 surcharge on traffic tickets in Kansas City case
A $3 surcharge on tickets written in Kansas City is unconstitutional, Missouri’s highest court ruled Tuesday, in a decision that could lower municipal court costs for residents.
The Missouri Supreme Court said the statewide surcharge, for a sheriffs’ retirement fund, isn’t “reasonably related to the expense of the administration of justice.” The decision may lead to a refund for anyone who paid the surcharge in recent years — likely thousands of people across the state.
The opinion marks the culmination of a four-year lawsuit brought by Daven Fowler and Jerry Keller, who both received speeding tickets in Kansas City in 2017. The men pleaded guilty, but sued over the surcharge, arguing it was unconstitutional.
“The Missouri Supreme Court reached the right decision here,” Brian Madden, an attorney for the men, wrote in an email. “As for next steps, we have a pending class certification motion seeking recovery of the $3 surcharge for Missouri citizens who paid the unconstitutional surcharge in Missouri municipal courts.”
If Fowler and Keller’s lawsuit obtains class action status, a court could order refunds for every person who paid the surcharge as part of municipal court costs since 2013. The refunds would only be a few dollars per person but could add up to millions in total.
In Kansas City, court costs for moving violations total $48.50 and $22.50 for non-moving violations. The fees, combined with the fine itself, can add up to hundreds of dollars — a significant financial burden on low-income residents.
“The fees imposed … are unreasonable charges that impede access to justice and, consequently, violate the Missouri Constitution,” Fowler and Keller’s attorneys argued in a briefing for the court. The justices agreed, finding that because the surcharge was used to pay executive branch employees (retired sheriffs), it was not sufficiently related to carrying out justice.
The surcharge aids the Missouri Sheriffs’ Retirement System, which helps pay for the retirement of more than 100 former sheriffs across the state. It generated about $2.1 million in 2019, according to the system’s annual report.
In defending the surcharge, attorneys for the Sheriffs’ Retirement System said it doesn’t limit access to the courts.
“The Surcharge Does Not Violate The Missouri Constitution’s Open Courts Provision Because It Is Not A Bribe, But An Expense Reasonably Related To Administering Justice,” said one subtitle in a court brief.
Circuit courts have been collecting the $3 surcharge for decades. But many municipal courts resisted assessing the fee until 2013, when the Office of the State Court Administrator effectively ordered them to begin collecting it. The decision followed a legal opinion from then-Attorney General Chris Koster that all courts needed to collect.
The directive also came after several Missouri lawmakers — including then-Sen. Mike Parson — supported legislation to make clear the surcharge would apply to municipal courts, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has previously reported. Parson, a retired sheriff from southwest Missouri, is now the governor.
Tuesday’s decision may leave the Sheriffs’ Retirement System in a financially uncertain position. Its funding comes from court costs along with investment returns. The organization deferred comment to its attorney, who didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kansas City Municipal Court spokesperson Benita Jones said the court would review the surcharge. Jones emphasized that the court kept none of the revenue collected from the surcharge and hadn’t collected it until directed to do so by the state several years ago.
This story was originally published June 1, 2021 at 3:19 PM.
