JEFFERSON CITY • In one of his first acts as attorney general, Republican Eric Schmitt on Monday lent his office’s support to a man trying to end the practice of modern-day debtors’ prisons in Missouri.

Schmitt, the former state treasurer who was sworn into his new job last week, filed a brief in the Supreme Court of Missouri on behalf of George Richey, of Appleton City, Mo., saying counties do not have the authority to classify jail debts as court costs or fines.

“Courts should not be using the threat of jail time to generate funds for bloated big government budgets when other means of collection exist,” Schmitt said. “De facto debtors’ prisons have no place in Missouri, and I am proud to stand up against a system that seeks to treat its poorer citizens as ATMs.”

The issue of imprisoning people when they cannot pay their jail fees has been highlighted in recent months by St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Tony Messenger.

In the brief, Schmitt notes a series of columns outlining the problems that jail time has caused people throughout rural Missouri.