JEFFERSON CITY — A former state lawmaker who is active in the Missouri League of Women Voters is suing top state officials over a plan to address underfunding in the pension systems covering sheriffs and local prosecutors.
An attorney for Nancy Copenhaver, who represented Randolph County during her time in the Legislature, filed a lawsuit in Cole County Circuit Court last week over an initiative on the Nov. 5 general election ballot that seeks to make it legal to charge court fees to help pay for the retirement systems.
The ballot question, which was approved by the Missouri Legislature on the last day of their session in May, seeks to reverse a unanimous Missouri Supreme Court decision from 2021 that said a $3 fee that was charged on every court case in Missouri to fund the sheriffs’ retirement system was an unconstitutional “sale of justice.â€
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Copenhaver is asking for a judge to rewrite the ballot language because it “conceals the fact that the funding scheme it would authorize has been twice invalidated by the Missouri Supreme Court as an unconstitutional ‘sale of justice.’â€
“It further misleads voters by withholding information from voters about how law enforcement personnel will be funded—there is no mention of court fees in the summary statement, which leaves voters in the dark about how the funding will be covered,†the lawsuit notes.
Under the proposal before voters, the fees would be set by the General Assembly if the proposition is approved.Â
Since 1875, Missouri has had a constitutional provision in known as the “open courts†provision. Based largely on England’s Magna Carta, the provision provides that the courts are not to put up barriers to justice, such as costs that some people can’t afford.
Among those voicing opposition to the ballot initiative was Rep. LaKeySha Bosley, D-ºüÀêÊÓƵ, who called the proposal “nefarious†as it was moving through the House.
“Let’s be clear what we’re doing: It is going to be a burden on citizens throughout the state,†Bosley said.
Rep. Tony Lovasco, R-St. Charles County, also voiced concern about the wording of the proposal during debate on the House floor.
“This isn’t telling the voter really at all what they are voting on,†Lovasco said. “You might as well say, ‘Do you like cops and babies?’ Who is not going to vote for that? It doesn’t tell you what this measure does.â€
Named as defendants in the lawsuit are Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Senate President Caleb Rowden, House Speaker Dean Plocher and Sen. Rusty Black, who sponsored the resolution.
The lawsuit was filed a day after a separate proposed constitutional amendment was challenged in court.
In that case, two ºüÀêÊÓƵ residents asked a judge to toss out the ballot language on a proposed constitutional amendment designed to bar ranked choice voting.
(Story updated July 18, 2024 to reflect that the court fees would be set by state lawmakers if the initiative wins voter approval.)