Attorney general settles Marshfield lawsuit

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office settled a lawsuit filed last year against the city of Marshfield.

The settlement resolves claims that the Marshfield Police Department allegedly enforced a traffic ticket quota in violation of Missouri law, according to a news release issued Aug. 27.

In a consent judgment, the city of Marshfield “concedes that actions taken could be construed as having a policy requiring or encouraging employees to issue a certain number of citations for traffic violations.”

In the lawsuit, Schmitt's office alleged police officials made efforts to intimidate whistleblowers. The number of citations filed by the city’s officers jumped to 1,386 in 2018 from 646 in 2017 and 383 in 2016, according to Schmitt's office. Additionally, the suit alleged the Marshfield Board of Aldermen approved the hiring of a traffic enforcement officer whose pay was determined by traffic tickets.

"Since the filing of the petition and a change in elected officials, the defendant has taken steps to eliminate the suspect policies of the Marshfield Police Department of encouraging its officers to make a specified number of law enforcement contacts per month," the consent judgment reads. "The defendant has also since eliminated the traffic enforcement officer position previously added in 2019."

Under the settlement, the city of Marshfield is required to design and operate a training program on compliance with laws regulating traffic ticket quotas. The city would be subject to a penalty of $250 per day for noncompliance, according to the judgment.