By Galen Bacharier
Missouri News Network
JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that state courts cannot threaten further jail time for unpaid prison debts.
The court overturned a circuit court decision that George Richey, an Appleton City resident, could be sent back to jail for an inability to pay “board bills,” or debts incurred from imprisonment.
Between his original 90-day misdemeanor sentence and the second sentence of two months, Richey had over $5,000 of debt, and the court scheduled monthly “payment review hearings.” Richey was living on monthly disability payments of $630.
Richey’s case, along with John Wright’s, who faced a similar situation and brought a wsimilar case, were overruled by two Missouri circuit courts. They both appealed and brought Richey’s case to the Supreme Court.
In both cases, the board bills were originally considered court costs. The Supreme Court’s decision ruled that “the debts cannot be taxed as courtw costs and the failure to pay the debt cannot result in another incarceration,” according to the court’s opinion.
“These courts cannot schedule payment review hearings and require these people to attend to explain their status on paying off these board bills,” said Matthew Mueller, Missouri public defender and Richey’s attorney. “What needs to happen now is these courts need to refer this debt to the Office of State Courts Administrator for collection.”
The Office of State Courts Administrator cannot threaten jail time or require hearings to account for the debt. It is only allowed to collect the debts through two methods: intercepting taxes or intercepting lottery prize winnings.
“It’s going to be a much more benign, jail-free method for hundreds of people, all throughout the state,” Mueller said.
The Missourian originally spoke to Richey and Mueller last November. Later reporting detailed their case making its way to the Supreme Court, as well as Missouri legislation traveling through the House that sought to outlaw board bills as the sole reason for further incarceration.
State Attorney General Eric Schmitt praised the Supreme Court’s decision in a news release Tuesday, referencing the brief his office submitted to the court in support of Richey on Jan. 7 before its hearing.
“I’m pleased with the Supreme Court’s ruling — board bills should not be classified as court costs, and modern day ‘debtors’ prisons’ have no place in Missouri,” Schmitt said in the statement.