A report from the Missouri Supreme Court highlights several potential conflicts of interest among Ferguson's court staff, prosecutor and police.
The report released Monday summarizes the observations and recommendations of court administration experts who were asked to take a look at the way Ferguson's municipal court system operates. The review follows a highly critical U.S. Justice Department report released after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer.
The new state report raises concerns about a lack of separation of powers. It notes that court staff had been required to report to the chief of police and also had been responsible for handling work for the city prosecutor. It says documents for the prosecutor and court also have been co-mingled in the same files.
