City of St. Louis Launches Online Partial Payment Plans, Eliminating Need to Come to Court to Pay

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis City Municipal Court is again making it easier for people to satisfy their obligations to the law by accepting partial payments and assigning subsequent court dates online, eliminating a defendant's need to come to court just to pay a fine. 

Judges often offer a payment plan for violators who cannot afford to pay their fines in full. Until now, those defendants would have to show up at a monthly Payment Docket to whittle away their fine. Now, they can make partial payments online.

So long as defendants make their partial payments on time and before their next court date, they will not need to show up for their Payment Docket and will instead receive their next court date (or payment date) online.

"It's counterintuitive to expect a defendant to take time away from work in order to pay their fine," Administrative Judge Gordon Schweitzer said. "The new payment option online helps ease that undue stress or burden of leaving work or needing childcare just to get to court to pay."

"We are constantly working to make it easier for people to get right with the law and get their lives back on track, whether that's through warrant forgiveness, setting up community courts, assigning community service in lieu of a fine, or even offering jobs to help violators pay their fines and create a better future for themselves," Mayor Francis Slay said. "The St. Louis City Municipal Court continues to lead the region on progressive court reforms and standards."