JEFFERSON CITY • The new Legislative Black Caucus chairman has filed a constitutional amendment ahead of the 2015 Legislative session that would eliminate Missouri's grand jury process.

The measure, pre-filed by state Rep. Brandon Ellington, D-Kansas City, would require voter approval in 2016 if lawmakers passed it during the session that begins Jan. 7.

Ellington's measure comes after a grand jury last month did not indict Darren Wilson, a white former Ferguson police officer, in the August fatal shooting of Michael Brown, a black teenager. Ellington has filed several other bills related to problems that have surfaced in Ferguson since then.

He believes that grand juries undermine public "trust in the legal system (that) requires an open and transparent process."

"Grand juries ... operate in secrecy and under the complete control of prosecutors," he said in a statement. "In light of the biased grand jury proceedings that took place in the Michael Brown case, Missourians should have the chance to consider whether the antiquated grand jury process still serves a legitimate purpose in our modern criminal justice system.”