Boone County sheriff explains Amendment 6 would reinstate court fee to fund retirement benefits

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri voters will decide in November whether to reinstate a $3 court fee to help fund retirement benefits for county sheriffs and prosecutors.

The official ballot language states, "Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to provide that the administration of justice shall include the levying of costs and fees to support salaries and benefits for certain current and former law enforcement personnel?"

However, Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey said in a news release Tuesday the ballot language is vague, leaving voters with more questions.

"Amendment 6 would correct a recent decision of the Missouri Supreme Court that overturned a $3 court fee that has been in place since 1983," Carey wrote in the release.

He explained the state legislature first established the Missouri Sheriff's Retirement fund around 40 years ago, which included a charge of $3 for criminal offenders. However, it was deemed unconstitutional in 2021 for that fee to benefit retired employees.

Carey said the fee itself was not ruled unconstitutional, but instead that retired sheriffs were benefitting from the fee. The language for the fee said it was "reasonably related to the expense of the administration of justice," and the Missouri Supreme Court ruled retired sheriffs weren't administrators of justice in retirement.

He said the legislative solution is now to define retirement as a benefit that assists with the administration of justice.

"That retirement is a benefit while they're in office and it's a benefit they take into retirement," Carey said Wednesday. "So, it's just really cleaning up the language ... you're no longer using 'retirement' you're using the word 'benefits.'"

He said in the release the full ballot language he would have preferred states, "In order to ensure that all Missourians have access to the courts of justice as guaranteed by this Constitution, the administration of justice shall include the levying of costs and fees to support salaries and benefits for sheriffs, former sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys, former prosecuting attorneys, circuit attorneys and former circuit attorneys."

Carey, a Missouri Sheriff's Retirement Board member, said while sheriffs and prosecutors contribute to their respective retirement systems, there are not enough to fund them.

He said the sheriff's retirement system will run out of money in nine years, and the prosecutor's system will run out in 15 years if Amendment 6 doesn't pass.

"I plan on doing two more terms because we have some big projects ... at nine years, 43 years of service at the Boone County Sheriff's Office and I'm going to have $0 in retirement because it's not going to have any funding to provide my retirement payment," Carey said.

He said this will impact him and 113 other county sheriffs across the state, along with prosecutors and retired sheriffs and prosecutors. And while Carey said he can continue working, he is worried for the already-retired people on fixed incomes or whose widows rely on these payments.

"If this goes away, there's a lot of people out there that have been relying on this check that are no longer going to be receiving that," Carey said.

He said misconceptions about Amendment 6 are that it is new, will target the poor and will lead to more arrests and prosecutions to generate revenue. However, he said offenders must be found or plead guilty before being subjected to paying the fee, and a judge can waive the fee if they believe it will create an added hardship for the offender. He added law enforcement officers still must have probable cause to proceed with an arrest.

ABC 17 News contacted local public defenders, defense attorneys and the Missouri Bar but did not receive a comment Wednesday. The Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers said its organization does not have a stance on the issue.

The official ballot language for Amendment 6 also includes a line that states, "State and local governmental entities estimate an unknown fiscal impact."

However, Carey said he doesn't believe there will be any fiscal impact to the state or local government due to this being the reinstatement of a $3 user fee for criminal offenders.

Carey said he has been working to get this measure through the state legislature since it was ruled unconstitutional. Since then, he said the state has been providing $2.5 million per year to help with the system's funding status.

Carey fears in the future, no qualified candidates will run for the position of county sheriff or prosecutor if retirement benefits are not included with the job.