WANN V. CITY OF ST. LOUIS | Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse

Case: Wann v. City of St. Louis

1422-CC10272 | Missouri state trial court

Filed Date: June 1, 2014

Closed Date: April 12, 2016

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Case Summary

This class action lawsuit challenged the St. Louis Municipal Court’s practice of imposing “warrant recall fees.” The named plaintiffs, who been charged with traffic offenses, were ordered to pay “fees” to the court to vacate arrest warrants after they missed court appearances. However, these fees were not authorized by state or local law. Represented by attorneys from the Saint Louis University Legal Clinic, the plaintiffs filed this case in the Circuit Court for the City of St. Louis City sometime in 2014. There, the case was assigned to Circuit Judge David L. Dowd. The plaintiffs brought several Missouri state law claims against the city and requested declaratory and injunctive relief, the certification of two classes—one including everyone who paid a warrant recall fee to the City of St. Louis and another including everyone who still owed such a fee, monetary damages, and attorneys’ fees.

On April 12, 2016, the parties reached a settlement agreement. (The details of the approximately two years of litigation before settlement are not available to the Clearinghouse, other than the fact that the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on March 25, 2015.) The agreement certified a class of everyone who paid the City a warrant recall fee between 2009 and 2016 and provided that the City would issue a refund of 75% of the fee amount (less attorney’s fees and class representative compensation) and forgive the debts of everyone who still owed a such a fee. The settlement also included injunctive relief: the City agreed to refrain from charging such fees in the future and to conduct an audit of its other court fees to see if any other court fees lacked statutory authority. Judge Dowd appears to have approved the settlement agreement after a July 18, 2016 fairness hearing.

This case is now closed.

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People

Judge(s)

Dowd, David (Missouri)

Attorneys(s) for Plaintiff

Ammann, John J. (Missouri)

Campbell, John E. (Missouri)

Hanlon, Stephen F (District of Columbia)

Roediger, Brendan D. (Missouri)

Vieth, Erich (Missouri)

Attorneys(s) for Defendant

Garvin, Michael A. (Missouri)