Bill Text: FL S7068 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Court-related Assessments
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (N/A - Dead) 2012-02-16 - Submit as committee bill by Budget (SB 1964) [S7068 Detail]
Download: Florida-2012-S7068-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2012 (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL) SPB 7068 FOR CONSIDERATION By the Committee on Budget 576-02919-12 20127068__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to court-related assessments; creating 3 s. 28.2457, F.S.; providing for a monetary assessment 4 mandated by statute to be imposed regardless of 5 whether the assessment is announced in open court; 6 providing guidelines for establishing the amount of a 7 mandatory assessment under certain conditions; 8 requiring the clerks of court to develop a uniform 9 form to be used in identifying and imposing mandatory 10 assessments; providing for the Supreme Court to 11 approve the form; defining terms; amending s. 28.246, 12 F.S.; revising requirements for the clerks of court to 13 report on the assessment and collection of certain 14 fines or other monetary penalties, fees, costs, and 15 charges; prescribing requirements for reporting 16 certain assessments that are waived, suspended, or 17 reduced; requiring the clerks to report collection 18 rates; providing guidelines for calculating the 19 collection rate; revising the timeframe for submitting 20 the report; requiring the clerks, rather than the 21 Department of Financial Services, to develop a 22 reporting form; amending s. 28.42, F.S.; removing an 23 obsolete date; providing for the clerks to consult 24 with the Office of the State Courts Administrator in 25 developing the form and guidelines governing the 26 reporting of amounts assessed and collected; providing 27 for the clerks of court, rather than the Office of the 28 State Courts Administrator, to prepare and disseminate 29 a manual of court-related filing fees, service 30 charges, costs, and fines; providing for applicability 31 of amendments made by the act; providing an effective 32 date. 33 34 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 35 36 Section 1. Section 28.2457, Florida Statutes, is created to 37 read: 38 28.2457 Mandatory monetary assessments.— 39 (1)(a) Except as otherwise provided by law, a monetary 40 assessment mandated by statute shall be imposed and included in 41 the judgment without regard to whether the assessment is 42 announced in open court. 43 (b) When an assessment mandated by statute prescribes a 44 minimum assessment and a maximum assessment, or prescribes 45 solely a minimum assessment, the minimum assessment is presumed 46 and shall be imposed and included in the judgment, unless the 47 court specifies a greater amount. 48 (2) The clerks of court, through their association and in 49 consultation with the Office of the State Courts Administrator, 50 shall develop by October 1, 2012, a uniform form for the 51 identification and imposition of all assessments mandated by 52 statute. The clerks shall submit the form by that date, and by 53 October 1 every year thereafter if necessary to reflect changes 54 in the law, to the Supreme Court for approval. Upon approval of 55 the form by the Supreme Court, all circuit and county courts 56 shall use the form. 57 (3) As used in this section, the term “monetary assessment” 58 or “assessment” includes, but is not limited to, a fine or other 59 monetary penalty, fee, service charge, or cost. 60 Section 2. Section 28.246, Florida Statutes, is amended to 61 read: 62 28.246 Payment of court-related fines or other monetary 63 penalties, fees, charges, and costs; partial payments; 64 distribution of funds.— 65 (1) The clerk of the circuit court shall report the 66 following information to the Legislature and the Florida Clerks 67 of Court Operations Corporation on a form, and using guidelines 68 developed by the clerks of court, through their association and 69 in consultation with the Office of the State Courts 70 AdministratorDepartment of Financial Services: 71 (a) The total amount of mandatory fees, service charges, 72 and costs; the total amount actuallyassessed; the total amount 73 underassessed, if any, which is the amount less than the minimum 74 amount required by law to bedischarged, waived, or otherwise75notassessed; and the total amount collected. 76 (b) The total amount of discretionary fees, service 77 charges, and costs assessed; the total amount discharged;and 78 the total amount collected. 79 (c) The total amount of mandatory fines and other monetary 80 penalties; the total amountassessed; the total amount 81 underassessed, if any, which is the amount less than the minimum 82 amount required by law to bedischarged, waived, or otherwise83notassessed; and the total amount collected. 84 (d) The total amount of discretionary fines and other 85 monetary penalties assessed; the amount discharged; and the 86 total amount collected. 87 88If provided to the clerk of court by the judge,The clerk, in 89 reporting to the Legislatureamount assessed, shall separately 90 identify the monetary amount assessed and subsequently 91 discharged or convertedpursuanttos.938.30ascommunity 92 service,;assessed by reducing the amountto a judgment or lien, 93 or to;satisfied bytime served; or other. The form developed by 94 the clerksChief Financial Officershall include separate 95 entries for recording the amount discharged and the amount 96 convertedthese amounts. If a court waives, suspends, or reduces 97 an assessment as authorized by law, the portion waived, 98 suspended, or reduced may not be deemed assessed or 99 underassessed for purposes of the reporting requirements of this 100 section. The clerk also shall report a collection rate for 101 mandatory and discretionary assessments. In calculating the 102 rate, the clerk shall deduct amounts discharged or converted 103 from the amount assessed. The clerk shall submit the report on 104 an annual basis 9060days after the end of the county fiscal 105 year. The clerks and the courts shall develop by October 1, 106 2012, the form and guidelines to govern the accurate and 107 consistent reporting statewide of assessments as provided in 108 this section. The clerk shall use the new reporting form and 109 guidelines in submitting the report for the county fiscal year 110 ending September 30, 2013, and for each year thereafter. 111 (2) The clerk of the circuit court shall establish and 112 maintain a system of accounts receivable for court-related fees, 113 charges, and costs. 114 (3) Court costs, fines, and other dispositional assessments 115 shall be enforced by order of the courts, collected by the 116 clerks of the circuit and county courts, and disbursed in 117 accordance with authorizations and procedures as established by 118 general law. 119 (4) The clerk of the circuit court shall accept partial 120 payments for court-related fees, service charges, costs, and 121 fines in accordance with the terms of an established payment 122 plan. An individual seeking to defer payment of fees, service 123 charges, costs, or fines imposed by operation of law or order of 124 the court under any provision of general law shall apply to the 125 clerk for enrollment in a payment plan. The clerk shall enter 126 into a payment plan with an individual who the court determines 127 is indigent for costs. A monthly payment amount, calculated 128 based upon all fees and all anticipated costs, is presumed to 129 correspond to the person’s ability to pay if the amount does not 130 exceed 2 percent of the person’s annual net income, as defined 131 in s. 27.52(1), divided by 12. The court may review the 132 reasonableness of the payment plan. 133 (5) When receiving partial payment of fees, service 134 charges, court costs, and fines, clerks shall distribute funds 135 according to the following order of priority: 136 (a) That portion of fees, service charges, court costs, and 137 fines to be remitted to the state for deposit into the General 138 Revenue Fund. 139 (b) That portion of fees, service charges, court costs, and 140 fineswhich arerequired to be retained by the clerk of the 141 court or deposited into the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund 142 within the Justice Administrative Commission. 143 (c) That portion of fees, service charges, court costs, and 144 fines payable to state trust funds, allocated on a pro rata 145 basis among the various authorized funds if the total collection 146 amount is insufficient to fully fund all such funds as provided 147 by law. 148 (d) That portion of fees, service charges, court costs, and 149 fines payable to counties, municipalities, or other local 150 entities, allocated on a pro rata basis among the various 151 authorized recipients if the total collection amount is 152 insufficient to fully fund all such recipients as provided by 153 law. 154 155 To offset processing costs, clerks may impose either a per-month 156 service charge pursuant to s. 28.24(26)(b) or a one-time 157 administrative processing service charge at the inception of the 158 payment plan pursuant to s. 28.24(26)(c). 159 (6) A clerk of court shall pursue the collection of any 160 fees, service charges, fines, court costs, and liens for the 161 payment of attorneyattorney’sfees and costs pursuant to s. 162 938.29 which remain unpaid after 90 days by referring the 163 account to a private attorney who is a member in good standing 164 of The Florida Bar or collection agent who is registered and in 165 good standing pursuant to chapter 559. In pursuing the 166 collection of such unpaid financial obligations through a 167 private attorney or collection agent, the clerk of the court 168 must have attempted to collect the unpaid amount through a 169 collection court, collections docket, or other collections 170 process, if any, established by the court, find this to be cost 171 effective and follow any applicable procurement practices. The 172 collection fee, including any reasonable attorney’s fee, paid to 173 any attorney or collection agent retained by the clerk may be 174 added to the balance owed in an amount not to exceed 40 percent 175 of the amount owed at the time the account is referred to the 176 attorney or agent for collection. The clerk shall give the 177 private attorney or collection agent the application for the 178 appointment of court-appointed counsel regardless of whether the 179 court file is otherwise confidential from disclosure. 180 Section 3. Section 28.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to 181 read: 182 28.42 Manual of court-related filing fees, charges, costs, 183 and fines.—No later than July 1, 2004,The clerks of court, 184 through their association and in consultation with the Office of 185 the State Courts Administrator shall prepare and disseminate a 186 manual of court-related filing fees, service charges, costs, and 187 fines imposed pursuant to state law, organized by county for 188 each type of action and offense and classified as either 189 mandatory or discretionary. The clerks, through their 190 association,Office of the State Courts Administratorshall 191 disseminate this manual to the chief judge, state attorney, 192 public defender, and court administrator in each circuit and to 193 the clerk of the court in each county. The clerks, through their 194 association and in consultation with the Office of the State 195 Courts Administrator, shall at a minimum update and disseminate 196 this manual on July 1 of each yearthereafter. 197 Section 4. Notwithstanding the amendments made by this act 198 to s. 28.246, Florida Statutes, the clerks of court shall use 199 the reporting requirements, standards, and form prescribed in 200 that section before July 1, 2012, for the report due for the 201 county fiscal year ending September 30, 2012. The amendments 202 made by this act to s. 28.246, Florida Statutes, apply beginning 203 with the report for the county fiscal year ending September 30, 204 2013. 205 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.