St. Louis, MO  (KTRS)  A new study suggests that a community’s affluence plays a role in determining a person’s municipal court experience.

Saint Louis University conducted an exit poll of 753 people leaving courts in thirteen St. Louis County municipalities. The poll found that both black and white residents had a far better experience in communities where the median income level was higher. However, black defendants generally had a worse experience than whites.

Municipal courts in the region have been under scrutiny since the unrest that followed the 2014 fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson.