Ferguson council faces backlash after vote to cut consent-decree funding amid budget hearing

At a City of Ferguson public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2025–26 budget, the council moved to reduce the city’s operating allocation for the federal consent decree by roughly $200,000, a change several speakers and volunteer board members said risks violating the decree and delaying compliance.

The issue drew more than an hour of public comment and a presentation from the Civilian Review Board (CRB) as residents, CRB members and other civic leaders urged the council to maintain funding until the city is clearly released from court oversight.

The consent decree — the court-ordered settlement arising from US v. Ferguson (entered 04/19/2016) — remains in effect, speakers said, and includes continuing obligations the city agreed to carry out. “Seeking to modify the agreement is fine, but unilaterally refusing to abide by it is not,” said Jerry Knoll, a member of the Civilian Review Board, quoting the decree’s language during public comment.

Why it matters: speakers and board members warned that reducing the consent-decree budget could expose Ferguson to legal remedy by the U.S. Department of Justice and the federal court, and would undercut training, monitoring and community-engagement work that the CRB and others say have improved policing practices over the past decade.

What was said and shown

- Civilian Review Board report: Jerry Knoll, identified as a Ferguson resident and CRB member, gave the board’s annual report and said the monitor’s work — audits, training…