| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to clerks of court budgets; amending s. |
| 3 | 28.241, F.S.; increasing the amount of certain filing fees |
| 4 | for civil actions in circuit court to be remitted to the |
| 5 | Department of Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue |
| 6 | Fund; amending s. 34.041, F.S.; increasing the amount of |
| 7 | certain filing fees for civil actions in county court to |
| 8 | be remitted to the Department of Revenue for deposit into |
| 9 | the General Revenue Fund; adjusting the budget cap for |
| 10 | clerks of the court; providing an effective date. |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section |
| 15 | 28.241, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 16 | 28.241 Filing fees for trial and appellate proceedings.-- |
| 17 | (1)(a) The party instituting any civil action, suit, or |
| 18 | proceeding in the circuit court shall pay to the clerk of that |
| 19 | court a filing fee of up to $295 in all cases in which there are |
| 20 | not more than five defendants and an additional filing fee of up |
| 21 | to $2.50 for each defendant in excess of five. Of the first $125 |
| 22 | $85 in filing fees, $120 $80 must be remitted by the clerk to |
| 23 | the Department of Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue |
| 24 | Fund, and $5 must be remitted to the Department of Revenue for |
| 25 | deposit into the Department of Financial Services' |
| 26 | Administrative Trust Fund to fund the contract with the Florida |
| 27 | Clerks of Court Operations Corporation created in s. 28.35. The |
| 28 | next $15 of the filing fee collected shall be deposited in the |
| 29 | state courts' Mediation and Arbitration Trust Fund. One-third of |
| 30 | any filing fees collected by the clerk of the circuit court in |
| 31 | excess of $140 $100 shall be remitted to the Department of |
| 32 | Revenue for deposit into the Department of Revenue Clerks of the |
| 33 | Court Trust Fund. An additional filing fee of $4 shall be paid |
| 34 | to the clerk. The clerk shall remit $3.50 to the Department of |
| 35 | Revenue for deposit into the Court Education Trust Fund and |
| 36 | shall remit 50 cents to the Department of Revenue for deposit |
| 37 | into the Department of Financial Services Administrative Trust |
| 38 | Fund to fund clerk education. An additional filing fee of up to |
| 39 | $18 shall be paid by the party seeking each severance that is |
| 40 | granted. The clerk may impose an additional filing fee of up to |
| 41 | $85 for all proceedings of garnishment, attachment, replevin, |
| 42 | and distress. Postal charges incurred by the clerk of the |
| 43 | circuit court in making service by certified or registered mail |
| 44 | on defendants or other parties shall be paid by the party at |
| 45 | whose instance service is made. No additional fees, charges, or |
| 46 | costs shall be added to the filing fees imposed under this |
| 47 | section, except as authorized herein or by general law. |
| 48 | Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section |
| 49 | 34.041, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 50 | 34.041 Filing fees.-- |
| 51 | (1) |
| 52 | (b) The first $120 $80 of the filing fee collected under |
| 53 | subparagraph (a)4. shall be remitted to the Department of |
| 54 | Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue Fund. The next $15 |
| 55 | of the filing fee collected under subparagraph (a)4., and the |
| 56 | first $15 of each filing fee collected under subparagraph (a)6., |
| 57 | shall be deposited in the state courts' Mediation and |
| 58 | Arbitration Trust Fund. One-third of any filing fees collected |
| 59 | by the clerk under this section in excess of the first $135 $95 |
| 60 | collected under subparagraph (a)4. shall be remitted to the |
| 61 | Department of Revenue for deposit into the Department of Revenue |
| 62 | Clerks of the Court Trust Fund. An additional filing fee of $4 |
| 63 | shall be paid to the clerk. The clerk shall transfer $3.50 to |
| 64 | the Department of Revenue for deposit into the Court Education |
| 65 | Trust Fund and shall transfer 50 cents to the Department of |
| 66 | Revenue for deposit into the Department of Financial Services' |
| 67 | Administrative Trust Fund to fund clerk education. Postal |
| 68 | charges incurred by the clerk of the county court in making |
| 69 | service by mail on defendants or other parties shall be paid by |
| 70 | the party at whose instance service is made. Except as provided |
| 71 | herein, filing fees and service charges for performing duties of |
| 72 | the clerk relating to the county court shall be as provided in |
| 73 | ss. 28.24 and 28.241. Except as otherwise provided herein, all |
| 74 | filing fees shall be retained as fee income of the office of the |
| 75 | clerk of circuit court. Filing fees imposed by this section may |
| 76 | not be added to any penalty imposed by chapter 316 or chapter |
| 77 | 318. |
| 78 | Section 3. Notwithstanding s. 28.36, Florida Statutes, the |
| 79 | statewide budget cap for the clerks of court is $474,174,512 for |
| 80 | the county fiscal year 2008-2009. The Clerk of the Court |
| 81 | Operations Corporation shall reduce the individual approved |
| 82 | budgets of the clerks of court to ensure that the sum of the |
| 83 | approved budgets does not exceed this statewide budget cap. |
| 84 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |