Tucked inside the bill that allowed the state to take over the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department was bipartisan provisions ending the practice of seizing assets from incarcerated people that are unrelated to their crimes.

Known as the Missouri Incarceration Reimbursement Act, the law was passed in 1988, when any idea intended to make life harder for criminals received a favorable hearing. Now, the law is viewed as a violation of property rights and a barrier to a law-abiding life.

“We need to pay our debts to society,” state Rep. Tara Peters, a Rolla Republican, said in an interview with The Missouri Independent. “Those who have paid their debt to society should have every opportunity to have a fresh start and to get out on the right foot when it comes time to go back into society

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