ST. LOUIS — Ferguson is closer to resolving a civil rights lawsuit with the Justice Department.
The City Council in the St. Louis suburb where the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown sparked unrest gave a first reading Tuesday to a measure that would approve an agreement with the Justice Department.
The deal seeks to improve police and court practices. More than 100 people turned out, including some who had to be turned away because of lack of space.
A second, final reading is required. That could happen March 15.
Ferguson has faced scrutiny since the 2014 death of Brown, a black, unarmed 18-year-old. The officer who shot Brown wasn’t charged and later resigned.
The shooting led to a DOJ investigation. The agency and Ferguson reached a tentative agreement, but the council rejected it in February over cost concerns, prompting the Justice Department to sue.
The decision to reconsider the agreement comes after the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Vanita Gupta, wrote to Mayor James Knowles III and the council on Friday, assuring them that the agreement will not create an unmanageable financial burden.
Gupta, in the letter, clarified financial details of the plan — including that the city wouldn’t be required to provide pay raises to its police officers, a provision that could have cost nearly $1 million. Gupta also said Ferguson could avoid litigation by signing the original agreement and notes the possibility of technical assistance and grant money for the city.
‘‘We feel like we’re going to be in that cost range that we can afford,’’ Knowles said. ‘‘We now have in writing from the DOJ that they will take very seriously these cost issues with us.’’
The Justice Department declined to comment.
The agency began investigating Ferguson amid the fallout after Brown, who was black and unarmed, was fatally shot by a white city police officer in August 2014. The officer, Darren Wilson, was cleared of wrongdoing and resigned in November 2014. The Justice Department issued its report four months later, and within days the city’s police chief, municipal judge, and city manager had resigned.
The City Council rejected the agreement after a city analysis indicated the cost could reach nearly $4 million in the first year alone.
