By Joanna Putman
Police1
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Amendment 6, a measure to preserve funding for law enforcement pensions by reinstating a $3 court fee, was rejected by voters in the recent general election, KOMU reported.
Initially passed as a joint resolution in the state Senate, the amendment aimed to secure pension benefits for sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys and circuit attorneys, according to the report. The amendment intended to reinstate a $3 court fee that the Missouri Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in 2021.
The fee, established in 1983, funded benefits for the state’s 114 sheriffs or their surviving spouses by collecting $3 per court case where a guilty verdict or plea is reached, according to a Missouri Independent report.
Since then, the sheriff pension fund has relied on reserves, which were fully funded in 2021 but have since declined.
