Missouri Court of Appeals on Jail Board Bills

State v. Wright, WD81666 (December 11, 2018), transferred January 7, 2019, SC97630　

On December 11, 2018, the Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals ruled that a defendant’s “jail board bill” can no longer be taxed as a court cost and collected by the court. Instead, the “jail board bill” is properly treated as a debt and must therefore be sent to OSCA for collection. By statute, OSCA can only collect this debt through tax intercepts or lottery prize winnings. There is no statutory authority for courts to treat this as a court cost and compel payment directly to the court.

The case was transferred to the Missouri Supreme Court on January 7, 2019, and argued on February 6, 2019.

For more information, see the Western District case opinion and a December 14, 2018 Missouri Lawyers Weekly article.