Everyone who paid an FTA or Warrant Fee to St. Louis County from October 27, 2012 to December 4, 2020, are a class member in a certified class action lawsuit against St. Louis County. In that lawsuit, the Plaintiff sued St. Louis County alleging that it charged illegal “FTA FEES”, for municipal court defendants who missed court, in violation of Missouri law.
WHAT DOES THE LAWSUIT PROVIDE?
The lawsuit has been preliminarily settled with the proposed settlement agreement providing that St. Louis County will provide partial refunds, to the class members, of warrant fees and failure to appear fees that have been paid. According to the proposed settlement, the first 5000 class members to timely file a claim will receive $75.00 and any class members who file claims after the first 5000 will receive $50.00. Since there are approximately 11,000 members of the class, the total amount paid to the class members could total approximately $625,000.00. The attorneys who represented the class are to receive $200,000.00 if the settlement is approved.
HOW DO I FILE A CLAIM?
You can submit a claim by visiting the CLAIM FORM page of this website.
HOW DO I OPT OUT OF THE SETTLEMENT CLASS?
Any member of the Class, who does not timely submit a written request to “opt-out” or to not be included in the Class, will be considered a member of the Class and will be bound by the Settlement Agreement. You may decide you do not want to be part of the Settlement Class. To opt-out you must send your notice to the Settlement Administrator before June 30, 2022. The Settlement Administrator’s contact information can be found HERE. Anyone who opt-outs will not be eligible to receive any settlement payment under the Settlement Agreement.
HOW DO I FILE A CLAIM?
If you wish to file an objection to the Settlement Agreement, you may file your objection in writing to the Settlement Administrator before June 30, 2022. The Settlement Administrator’s contact information can be found HERE. If you do not submit a timely objection, you cannot object to the Settlement Agreement at the final approval hearing.
WHEN IS THE FINAL APPROVAL HEARING?
While the Settlement Agreement has been preliminarily approved by the Court, the Court has set a final approval hearing for August 9, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. At this final approval hearing, the Court will listen to the attorneys for the class and attorneys for St. Louis County along with any person who timely files an objection to the Settlement Agreement.