DIAMOND, Mo. — Mayor Brenda Schmitt said Friday that city officials are currently in contact with the state attorney general's office in hopes of resolving a lawsuit against the town.
The suit, filed Thursday by Attorney General Eric Schmitt, alleges that city officials used "taxation by citation" practices by using traffic ticket quotas to generate more municipal revenue.
Mayor Schmitt, who is not related to Eric Schmitt, declined to answer Globe interview questions, but issued the following statement:
"The city of Diamond is in contact with the Attorney General's office in order to resolve this matter expeditiously. Once we receive the paperwork and review the claims made against the city, we will investigate the allegations and take any corrective action recommended by the Attorney General's office. Until that time, the city cannot and will not comment until the investigation is complete. We appreciate your patience and understanding while we complete our investigation."
According to the petition filed by the state in Newton County Circuit Court, a “whistleblower” familiar with the Diamond Police Department’s operations contacted the attorney general's office on March 27 with the information that prompted the suit.
The person sent photos of a message allegedly written by police Chief Michael Jones on a white board in a room of the police station that said that municipal revenue was behind $5,000 and told officers to immediately "issue some tickets” in response to the money shortfall.
“Taxation by citation is an outdated, unsustainable and unacceptable system,” Eric Schmitt said in a news release. “Enforcing ticket quotas and writing tickets purely to generate revenue breaks down trust between municipalities and the citizens they serve.”
Jones declined to comment Friday, referring a Globe reporter to the city statement.
The court petition also alleges that information provided by the whistleblower indicates that in the past, Jones has told employees that more revenue was needed to “keep the lights on,” and that employees were “behind on our ticket count” and need to issue about 50 tickets a month.
The suit also states that Jones has cited the ticket count of individual officers on a white board and “followed up with officers” for not giving out enough tickets. Additionally, acccording the suit, Jones has sent Brenda Schmitt and the Diamond City Council the ticket count of individual officers on a regular basis.
Lola Sill, owner of Lola’s Diamond Barber and Beauty, 713 N. Washington St., said that though her business is located right off of Highway 59, she has not personally noticed police frequently pulling people over or issuing an excessive amount of tickets.
“I know they don’t give a lot of tickets here, or not during the time when I’m here,” she said. “It hasn’t affected me. I just can’t see what they’re talking about, really.”
The state office does not have any specific numbers detailing how many tickets each Diamond police officer has issued over a period of time, or if city revenues did increase, said Chris Nuelle, press secretary for the office. However, as this is now an open suit, more information may be available in the coming month.
“It’s very early for that, since we just filed it yesterday,” he said Friday.
Missouri banned the use of ticket quotas with a series of bills, including Senate Bill 5 in 2015, following the 2014 protests in Ferguson over the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old.
"The laws (like SB 5) protect Missouri citizens — especially our least fortunate citizens — from oppressive ticketing practices and nefarious revenue-generating tactics," the petition said.
While Brown’s shooting did not involve a traffic stop, his death and the following protests drew attention to concerns about the mostly white police force’s treatment of the predominantly black residents of Ferguson, including using police to collect revenue through traffic fines and court fees.
In the petition, the attorney general’s office requested that the judge order the city to stop the practice of using traffic ticket quotas and that the city pay the cost of any incurred attorneys’ fees plus any additional cost that the “court deems just and proper.”
Background
“I was honored to be a part of the passage of Senate Bill 5 (which banned ticket quotas) in 2015,” Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who served as a state senator from 2009 to 2017, said in a news release about his state lawsuit. “Four years later I’m doing everything in my ability to enforce it as attorney general. Missourians should not be used as ATMs. “
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