The Missouri Supreme Court has vacated and remanded a Jackson County Circuit Court's judgment that would have allowed the Missouri Sheriffs' Retirement System to continue charging motorists a $3 surcharge on speeding tickets that benefits elected sheriffs who have worked at least eight years.
“For a statute imposing a court cost to withstand an article I § 14 challenge to its validity, this Court has held the statute must be reasonably related to the expense of the administration of justice,” wrote Missouri Supreme Court Judge Zel M. Fischer in the June 1 opinion. “This case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
As previously reported, Daven Fowler and Jerry Keller sued the Missouri Sheriffs' Retirement System in 2017 alleging unjust enrichment and that the $3 surcharge violates Section 14 of the Missouri Constitution.
The section states that “the courts of justice shall be open to every person, and certain remedy afforded for every injury to a person, property or character, and that right and justice shall be administered without sale, denial or delay.”
"It was a 6-0 unanimous opinion, which indicates that there wasn't much of a question that the surcharge is unconstitutional,” said attorney Gerald McGonagle of Kansas City.
The Missouri Sheriffs' Retirement System has been issuing retirement benefits since 1986, according to its website. To date, some 138 retired sheriffs and 49 beneficiaries are receiving benefits.
“We will be asking for the disgorgement of all the unconstitutional fees that the Sheriff's Retirement System has been taking from litigants for years,” McGonagle told the St. Louis Record. “They had an opportunity way before it got this far to get this resolved. We sat down and talked to them and they decided that they didn't want to stop the practice. They bet everything and they lost everything.”
The Missouri Sheriffs' Retirement System has 15 days to file a petition for rehearing with the Missouri Supreme Court but McGonagle believes it’s unlikely the sheriffs will continue to pursue litigation.
“They really have no grounds for rehearing obviously,” McGonagle said. “It’s a 6-0 decision.”
Missouri Sheriffs' Retirement System Executive Director Jeff Padgett declined to comment except to say, "We are considering next steps."
If the sheriffs do not appeal, McGonagle said he will be asking the Jackson County Circuit Court to rule on a motion for class certification.
The Missouri Supreme Court is expected to hand down its mandate after the time has expired to file a petition for rehearing.
“We intend to get right into court and start working to get our class members compensated,” McGonagle said. “If there was ever a class action that should be certified, this is it. You've got numerosity, typicality and the damages are easily discernible. This is a law school example of what a class action is.”
McGonagle added that millions of people in the state of Missouri will be able to make a claim.
“Once we get the class certified, there will be a notice period when notice will be sent out to everybody who can make a claim," he said.
McGonagle estimates the amount of money the Sheriffs' Retirement System will have to pay is in the multimillion-dollar range.
“We haven't determined the complete scope of it yet but it’s in the multimillions,” he said. "Years ago we asked them to stop collecting the fee and set up a small fund to reimburse a small number of parties. It was all negotiable back then but they kept collecting it. So, the damages have just gotten bigger.”