The Florida Senate

34.041  Filing fees.--

(1)(a)  Upon the institution of any civil action, suit, or proceeding in county court, the party shall pay the following filing fee, not to exceed:

1.  For all claims less than $100 ............ $50.

2.  For all claims of $100 or more but not more than $500 ............ $75.

3.  For all claims of more than $500 but not more than $2,500 ............ $170.

4.  For all claims of more than $2,500 ............ $295.

5.  In addition, for all proceedings of garnishment, attachment, replevin, and distress ............ $85.

6.  For removal of tenant action ............ $265.

(b)  The first $80 of the filing fee collected under subparagraph (a)4. shall be remitted to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue Fund. The next $15 of the filing fee collected under subparagraph (a)4., and the first $15 of each filing fee collected under subparagraph (a)6., shall be deposited in the state courts' Mediation and Arbitration Trust Fund. One-third of any filing fees collected by the clerk under this section in excess of the first $95 collected under subparagraph (a)4. shall be remitted to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the Department of Revenue Clerks of the Court Trust Fund. An additional filing fee of $4 shall be paid to the clerk. The clerk shall transfer $3.50 to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the Court Education Trust Fund and shall transfer 50 cents to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the Department of Financial Services' Administrative Trust Fund to fund clerk education. Postal charges incurred by the clerk of the county court in making service by mail on defendants or other parties shall be paid by the party at whose instance service is made. Except as provided herein, filing fees and service charges for performing duties of the clerk relating to the county court shall be as provided in ss. 28.24 and 28.241 Except as otherwise provided herein, all filing fees shall be retained as fee income of the office of the clerk of circuit court. Filing fees imposed by this section may not be added to any penalty imposed by chapter 316 or chapter 318.

(c)  Any party other than a party described in paragraph (a) who files a pleading in an original civil action in the county court for affirmative relief by cross-claim, counterclaim, or third-party complaint, or who files a notice of cross-appeal or notice of joinder or motion to intervene as an appellant, cross-appellant, or petitioner, shall pay the clerk of court a fee of $295 if the relief sought by the party under this paragraph exceeds $2,500. This fee shall not apply where the cross-claim, counterclaim, or third-party complaint requires transfer of the case from county to circuit court. The clerk shall remit the fee to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue Fund.

(d)  The clerk of court shall collect a service charge of $10 for issuing a summons. The clerk shall assess the fee against the party seeking to have the summons issued.

(2)  A party reopening any civil action, suit, or proceeding in the county court shall pay to the clerk of court a filing fee set by the clerk in an amount not to exceed $25 for all claims of not more than $500 and an amount not to exceed $50 for all claims of more than $500. For purposes of this section, a case is reopened when a case previously reported as disposed of is resubmitted to a court. A party is exempt from paying the fee for any of the following:

(a)  A writ of garnishment;

(b)  A writ of replevin;

(c)  A distress writ;

(d)  A writ of attachment;

(e)  A motion for rehearing filed within 10 days;

(f)  A motion for attorney's fees filed within 30 days of the entry of the judgment or final order;

(g)  A motion for dismissal filed after a mediation agreement has been filed;

(h)  A motion to withdraw by attorneys;

(i)  Stipulations; or

(j)  Responsive pleadings.

(3)  If a nonindigent party fails to pay accrued costs, the judge shall have power to deny that party the right to file any new case while such costs remain unpaid and, likewise, to deny such litigant the right to proceed further in any pending case.

(4)  In criminal proceedings in county courts, costs shall be taxed against a person in county court upon conviction or estreature pursuant to chapter 939.

(5)  Upon the institution of any appellate proceeding from the county court to the circuit court, including any appeal filed by a county or municipality, the clerk shall charge and collect filing fees as provided in s. 28.241(2) from the party or parties instituting the appellate proceedings. If the party is determined to be indigent, the clerk shall defer payment of the fee.

(6)  A charge or a fee may not be imposed upon a party for responding by pleading, motion, or other paper to a civil or criminal action, suit, or proceeding in a county court or to an appeal to the circuit court.

(7)  For purposes of this section, the term "party" includes a county or municipality filing any civil action.

(8)  From each attorney appearing pro hac vice, the clerk must collect a fee of $100 for deposit into the General Revenue Fund.

History.--ss. 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, ch. 26931, 1951; s. 4, ch. 63-559; s. 12, ch. 70-134; s. 12, ch. 72-404; s. 2, ch. 74-154; s. 4, ch. 77-284; s. 15, ch. 79-400; s. 3, ch. 82-205; s. 5, ch. 87-145; s. 8, ch. 89-290; s. 2, ch. 90-181; s. 2, ch. 90-269; s. 4, ch. 91-152; s. 196, ch. 95-147; s. 4, ch. 96-209; s. 2, ch. 96-350; s. 7, ch. 2001-122; s. 52, ch. 2003-402; s. 32, ch. 2004-265; s. 11, ch. 2008-111.