Ferguson City Manager De’Carlon Seewood said in a statement the city has made more than a dozen significant changes to the court system since 2015, including the departure of the lead court clerk and the firing of an employee connected to about $1,400 in missing cash.

Ordinances that established illegal court fees have since been repealed, including ordinances that imposed a $15 letter fee when defendants missed court hearings; a $50 fee for recalling warrants; and a $75 fee against people who reported crimes but then chose not to seek charges.

A municipal court judge later waived any outstanding fees against residents assessed under those ordinances, totaling about $1.6 million. Court staff were also given training and a reorientation to the court’s new processing policies and procedures.

“While there is still more work to be done, significant progress has been made in developing and implementing the necessary changes,” Seewood said in the emailed statement.

The city has been under intense scrutiny from the state and federal governments since August 2014, when an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, was shot to death by a Ferguson police officer. The officer, Darren Wilson, later resigned but no charges were brought against him, which led to protests and looting.