“The courts should not have required them (Wright and Richey) to repeatedly appear to account for debts the courts could not legally designate as court costs, and, in Richey’s case, the circuit court should not have sent him back to jail for failing to make those payments,” the court said.

The court said that both men were responsible for their original jail bills, but the court waived the additional $2,275 charged to Richey after his second stay in jail.

A proposal pending in the Missouri Legislature would put Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling into state statute.

The measure would forbid the threat of jail time in “board bill” cases, and would do away with monthly hearings. The House has advanced the proposal to the Senate.

In January, Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican, filed an amicus brief in support of Richey’s argument. He praised the ruling on Tuesday.

“Missourians shouldn’t be forced into a cycle of incarceration and used as an ATM simply for being unable to pay jail debts,” Schmitt said in a statement. “I’m pleased with the Supreme Court’s ruling — board bills should not be classified as court costs, and modern day ‘debtors’ prisons’ have no place in Missouri.”