A follow-up to last year's municipal court reform bill, commonly known as Senate Bill 5, has passed the Missouri House.
This year's measure, Senate Bill 572, would limit fines for minor traffic violations at $300 and limit municipal code violations at $500. Rep. Robert Cornejo, R-St. Peters, carried the bill in the House.
"It's something that each one of us can go back to our districts and be proud of, that (says), 'municipalities, you can do as you may, but you can't get out of control,'" Cornejo said.
When passed by the Senate in late January, the measure had a $200 fine limit for minor traffic violations, but the House raised it to $300 before passing the measure on Thursday.
"Several municipalities expressed (concern about) persistent offenders," Cornejo said, "so we raised the cap back up."
It now goes back to the Senate.
Last year's bill lowered the percentage of traffic-fine revenue cities could keep and set new standards for cities in St. Louis County. But a judge has declared those limits to be unconstitutional.
The ruling left intact the 20 percent cap that applies to municipalities throughout the rest of Missouri.
Follow Marshall Griffin on Twitter: @MarshallGReport
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