Florida Senate - 2009 SB 2108
By Senator Pruitt
28-01736A-09 20092108__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the disposition of court fees;
3 providing legislative intent; creating s. 28.002,
4 F.S.; requiring the Legislature to provide for
5 transfer of court-related services from clerks of the
6 court to the state courts system; specifying
7 applicable court-related services; providing for
8 future repeal; amending ss. 28.101, 28.241, 34.041,
9 and 35.22, F.S.; revising allocations of certain court
10 fees; providing for deposit of certain fees or
11 portions of fees into the State Courts Revenue Trust
12 Fund; providing an effective date.
13
14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16 Section 1. It is the intent of the Legislature that, in
17 order to enable greater access to justice and bring appropriate
18 efficiencies to the administration of justice, a thorough review
19 be conducted of the business processes by which the clerk of
20 court provides court-related services. In this time of curtailed
21 state resources, it is the further intent of the Legislature to
22 eliminate bureaucracy and the duplication of effort by providing
23 additional legislative and judicial oversight of the provision
24 of court-related services.
25 Section 2. Section 28.002, Florida Statutes, is created to
26 read:
27 28.002 Transfer of court-related services performed by
28 clerks of court.—
29 (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter to the
30 contrary, each fiscal year, beginning with the 2009-2010 fiscal
31 year, the Legislature shall designate up to five judicial
32 circuits in which court-related services currently imposed by
33 law upon the clerks of the court shall be transferred to the
34 state courts system. For purposes of this section, the following
35 services shall be considered court-related services:
36 (a) Case maintenance.
37 (b) Records management.
38 (c) Court preparation and attendance.
39 (d) Processing the assignment, reopening, and reassignment
40 of cases.
41 (e) Processing appeals.
42 (f) Collection and distribution of fines, fees, service
43 charges, and court costs.
44 (g) Processing bond forfeiture payments.
45 (h) Payment of jurors and witnesses.
46 (i) Payment of expenses for meals or lodging provided to
47 jurors.
48 (j) Data collection and reporting.
49 (k) Processing jurors.
50 (l) Determinations of indigent status.
51 (m) Keeping progress dockets.
52 (n) Disposal of evidence.
53 (o) Pro se assistance.
54 (2) Upon the completion of the transfer of court-related
55 services to the state courts system, the Legislature shall
56 repeal this section and the provisions of this chapter imposing
57 court-related services upon the clerks of the court.
58 Section 3. Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section
59 28.101, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
60 28.101 Petitions and records of dissolution of marriage;
61 additional charges.—
62 (1) When a party petitions for a dissolution of marriage,
63 in addition to the filing charges in s. 28.241, the clerk shall
64 collect and receive:
65 (d) A charge of $32.50. On a monthly basis, the clerk shall
66 transfer the moneys collected pursuant to this paragraph as
67 follows:
68 1. An amount of $7.50 to the Department of Revenue for
69 deposit into in the Displaced Homemaker Trust Fund.
70 2. An amount of $25 to the State Courts Department of
71 Revenue for deposit in the General Revenue Trust Fund.
72 Section 4. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 28.241,
73 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
74 28.241 Filing fees for trial and appellate proceedings.—
75 (1)(a) The party instituting any civil action, suit, or
76 proceeding in the circuit court shall pay to the clerk of that
77 court a filing fee of up to $295 in all cases in which there are
78 not more than five defendants and an additional filing fee of up
79 to $2.50 for each defendant in excess of five. Of that amount,
80 the first $85 in filing fees, $80 must be remitted by the clerk
81 to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the General
82 Revenue Fund, and $5 must be remitted to the Department of
83 Revenue for deposit into the Department of Financial Services’
84 Administrative Trust Fund to fund the contract with the Florida
85 Clerks of Court Operations Corporation created in s. 28.35. The
86 next $15 of the filing fee collected shall be deposited in the
87 state courts’ Mediation and Arbitration Trust Fund. One-third of
88 any filing fees collected by the clerk of the circuit court in
89 excess of $100 shall be remitted to the Department of Revenue
90 for deposit into the Department of Revenue Clerks of the Court
91 Trust Fund. An additional filing fee of $4 shall be paid to the
92 clerk. The clerk shall remit $3.50 to the Department of Revenue
93 for deposit into the Court Education Trust Fund and shall remit
94 50 cents to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the
95 Department of Financial Services Administrative Trust Fund to
96 fund clerk education. An additional filing fee of up to $18
97 shall be paid by the party seeking each severance that is
98 granted. The clerk may impose an additional filing fee of up to
99 $85 for all proceedings of garnishment, attachment, replevin,
100 and distress. The clerk shall deposit all remaining fees into
101 the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund. Postal charges incurred by
102 the clerk of the circuit court in making service by certified or
103 registered mail on defendants or other parties shall be paid by
104 the party at whose instance service is made. No additional fees,
105 charges, or costs shall be added to the filing fees imposed
106 under this section, except as authorized herein or by general
107 law.
108 (b) A party reopening any civil action, suit, or proceeding
109 in the circuit court shall pay to the clerk of court a filing
110 fee set by the clerk in an amount not to exceed $50, which the
111 clerk shall deposit into the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund.
112 For purposes of this section, a case is reopened when a case
113 previously reported as disposed of is resubmitted to a court and
114 includes petitions for modification of a final judgment of
115 dissolution. A party is exempt from paying the fee for any of
116 the following:
117 1. A writ of garnishment;
118 2. A writ of replevin;
119 3. A distress writ;
120 4. A writ of attachment;
121 5. A motion for rehearing filed within 10 days;
122 6. A motion for attorney’s fees filed within 30 days after
123 entry of a judgment or final order;
124 7. A motion for dismissal filed after a mediation agreement
125 has been filed;
126 8. A disposition of personal property without
127 administration;
128 9. Any probate case prior to the discharge of a personal
129 representative;
130 10. Any guardianship pleading prior to discharge;
131 11. Any mental health pleading;
132 12. Motions to withdraw by attorneys;
133 13. Motions exclusively for the enforcement of child
134 support orders;
135 14. A petition for credit of child support;
136 15. A Notice of Intent to Relocate and any order issuing as
137 a result of an uncontested relocation;
138 16. Stipulations;
139 17. Responsive pleadings; or
140 18. Cases in which there is no initial filing fee.
141 (c) Any party other than a party described in paragraph (a)
142 who files a pleading in an original civil action in circuit
143 court for affirmative relief by cross-claim, counterclaim, or
144 third-party complaint shall pay the clerk of court a fee of
145 $295. The clerk shall deposit remit the fee into to the State
146 Courts Revenue Trust Department of Revenue for deposit into the
147 General Revenue Fund.
148 (d) The clerk of court shall collect a service charge of
149 $10 for issuing a summons. The clerk shall assess the fee
150 against the party seeking to have the summons issued.
151 (2) Upon the institution of any appellate proceeding from
152 any lower court to the circuit court of any such county,
153 including appeals filed by a county or municipality as provided
154 in s. 34.041(5), or from the circuit court to an appellate court
155 of the state, the clerk shall charge and collect from the party
156 or parties instituting such appellate proceedings a filing fee
157 not to exceed $280 for filing a notice of appeal from the county
158 court to the circuit court and, in addition to the filing fee
159 required under s. 25.241 or s. 35.22, $100 for filing a notice
160 of appeal from the circuit court to the district court of appeal
161 or to the Supreme Court. If the party is determined to be
162 indigent, the clerk shall defer payment of the fee. The clerk
163 shall deposit into the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund remit the
164 fee for filing a notice of appeal from the county court to the
165 circuit court first $80 to the Department of Revenue for deposit
166 into the General Revenue Fund. The clerk shall deposit into the
167 State Courts Revenue Trust Fund the fee for filing a notice of
168 appeal from the circuit court to the district court of appeal or
169 the Supreme Court One-third of the fee collected by the clerk in
170 excess of $80 also shall be remitted to the Department of
171 Revenue for deposit into the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund.
172 Section 5. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1) and
173 subsection (2) of section 34.041, Florida Statutes, are amended
174 to read:
175 34.041 Filing fees.—
176 (1)
177 (b) The first $80 of the filing fee collected under
178 subparagraph (a)4. shall be remitted to the Department of
179 Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue Fund. The first
180 next $15 of the filing fee collected under subparagraph (a)4.,
181 and the first $15 of each filing fee collected under
182 subparagraph (a)6., shall be deposited into in the state courts’
183 Mediation and Arbitration Trust Fund. One-third of any filing
184 fees collected by the clerk under this section in excess of the
185 first $95 collected under subparagraph (a)4. shall be remitted
186 to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the Department of
187 Revenue Clerks of the Court Trust Fund. An additional filing fee
188 of $4 shall be paid to the clerk. The clerk shall transfer $3.50
189 to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the Court
190 Education Trust Fund and shall transfer 50 cents to the
191 Department of Revenue for deposit into the Department of
192 Financial Services’ Administrative Trust Fund to fund clerk
193 education. The clerk shall deposit all remaining filing fees
194 into the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund. Postal charges
195 incurred by the clerk of the county court in making service by
196 mail on defendants or other parties shall be paid by the party
197 at whose instance service is made. Except as provided herein,
198 filing fees and service charges for performing duties of the
199 clerk relating to the county court shall be as provided in ss.
200 28.24 and 28.241. Except as otherwise provided herein, all
201 filing fees shall be retained as fee income of the office of the
202 clerk of circuit court. Filing fees imposed by this section may
203 not be added to any penalty imposed by chapter 316 or chapter
204 318.
205 (c) Any party other than a party described in paragraph (a)
206 who files a pleading in an original civil action in the county
207 court for affirmative relief by cross-claim, counterclaim, or
208 third-party complaint, or who files a notice of cross-appeal or
209 notice of joinder or motion to intervene as an appellant, cross
210 appellant, or petitioner, shall pay the clerk of court a fee of
211 $295 if the relief sought by the party under this paragraph
212 exceeds $2,500. This fee shall not apply where the cross-claim,
213 counterclaim, or third-party complaint requires transfer of the
214 case from county to circuit court. The clerk shall deposit remit
215 the fee into to the State Courts Department of Revenue Trust for
216 deposit into the General Revenue Fund.
217 (2) A party reopening any civil action, suit, or proceeding
218 in the county court shall pay to the clerk of court a filing fee
219 set by the clerk in an amount not to exceed $25 for all claims
220 of not more than $500 and an amount not to exceed $50 for all
221 claims of more than $500. The clerk shall deposit the filing fee
222 into the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund. For purposes of this
223 section, a case is reopened when a case previously reported as
224 disposed of is resubmitted to a court. A party is exempt from
225 paying the fee for any of the following:
226 (a) A writ of garnishment;
227 (b) A writ of replevin;
228 (c) A distress writ;
229 (d) A writ of attachment;
230 (e) A motion for rehearing filed within 10 days;
231 (f) A motion for attorney’s fees filed within 30 days of
232 the entry of the judgment or final order;
233 (g) A motion for dismissal filed after a mediation
234 agreement has been filed;
235 (h) A motion to withdraw by attorneys;
236 (i) Stipulations; or
237 (j) Responsive pleadings.
238 Section 6. Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) and subsection
239 (6) of section 35.22, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
240 35.22 Clerk of district court; appointment; compensation;
241 assistants; filing fees; teleconferencing.—
242 (3)
243 (b) Upon the filing of a notice of cross-appeal, or a
244 notice of joinder or motion to intervene as an appellant, cross
245 appellant, or petitioner, the clerk shall charge and collect a
246 filing fee of $295. The clerk shall deposit remit the fee into
247 the State Courts Revenue Trust to the Department of Revenue for
248 deposit into the General Revenue Fund. The state and its
249 agencies are exempt from the filing fee required by this
250 paragraph.
251 (6) The first clerk of each district court of appeal is
252 required to deposit all fees collected in the State Treasury to
253 the credit of the General Revenue Fund, except that $50 of each
254 $300 filing fee collected shall be deposited into the state
255 court’s Operating Trust Fund to fund court improvement projects
256 as authorized in the General Appropriations Act. The remainder
257 of each filing fee shall be deposited into the State Courts
258 Revenue Trust Fund. The clerk shall retain an accounting of each
259 such remittance.
260 Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.