Florida Senate - 2020                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1328
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì118198QÎ118198                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  01/30/2020           .                                
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       The Committee on Judiciary (Wright) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Substitute for Amendment (785038) (with title
    2  amendment)
    3  
    4         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    5  and insert:
    6         Section 1. Subsection (26) of section 28.24, Florida
    7  Statutes, is amended to read:
    8         28.24 Service charges.—The clerk of the circuit court shall
    9  charge for services rendered manually or electronically by the
   10  clerk’s office in recording documents and instruments and in
   11  performing other specified duties. These charges may not exceed
   12  those specified in this section, except as provided in s.
   13  28.345.
   14         (26)(a) For receiving and disbursing all restitution
   15  payments, per payment: 3.50, from which the clerk shall remit
   16  0.50 per payment to the Department of Revenue for deposit into
   17  the General Revenue Fund.
   18         (b) For receiving and disbursing all partial payments,
   19  other than restitution payments, for which an administrative
   20  processing service charge is not imposed pursuant to s. 28.246,
   21  per month...................................................5.00
   22         (c) For setting up a payment plan, a one-time
   23  administrative processing charge in lieu of a per month charge
   24  under paragraph (b)........................................25.00
   25         (c)A person may pay the one-time administrative charge in
   26  paragraph (b) in no more than five equal monthly payments.
   27         Section 2. Present subsections (5) and (6) of section
   28  28.246, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (6)
   29  and (7), respectively, a new subsection (5) is added to that
   30  section, subsection (4) and present subsection (5) of that
   31  section are amended, and subsection (8) is added to that
   32  section, to read:
   33         28.246 Payment of court-related fines or other monetary
   34  penalties, fees, charges, and costs; partial payments;
   35  distribution of funds.—
   36         (4) Each The clerk of the circuit court shall accept
   37  scheduled partial payments for court-related fees, service
   38  charges, costs, and fines electronically, by mail, or in person,
   39  in accordance with the terms of an established payment plan and
   40  shall enroll. an individual seeking to defer payment of fees,
   41  service charges, costs, or fines imposed by operation of law or
   42  order of the court under any provision of general law shall
   43  apply to the clerk for enrollment in a payment plan no later
   44  than 30 calendar days after the date the court enters the order
   45  assessing fines, service charge, fees, and costs. If the
   46  individual is incarcerated, the defendant shall apply to the
   47  clerk for enrollment in a payment plan within 30 calendar days
   48  after release. Each clerk shall coordinate with the court to
   49  develop a process in which the individual will meet with the
   50  clerk upon sentencing or as soon as thereafter as practical. If
   51  the clerk enters shall enter into a payment plan with an
   52  individual who the court determines is indigent for costs, the.
   53  A monthly payment amount, calculated based upon all fees and all
   54  anticipated fines, service charge, fees, and costs, is presumed
   55  to correspond to the person’s ability to pay if the amount does
   56  not exceed 2 percent of the person’s annual net income, as
   57  defined in s. 27.52(1), divided by 12 or $10, whichever is
   58  greater. The clerk shall establish all payment plan terms other
   59  than the total amount due and the court may review the
   60  reasonableness of the payment plan and may, on its own or by
   61  petition, waive, modify or convert the outstanding fees, service
   62  charges, costs, or fines to community service if the court
   63  determines that the individual is indigent or due to compelling
   64  circumstances is unable to comply with the terms of the payment
   65  plan.
   66         (5)The clerk shall send notice within 5 days to an
   67  individual who fails to make a timely payment due under a
   68  payment plan. Such notice may be made by mail or electronically.
   69  The clerk shall transmit notice to the Department of Highway
   70  Safety and Motor Vehicles if any payment due under a payment
   71  plan is not received within 30 days after the due date unless
   72  the individual makes alternate payment arrangements or enters
   73  into a revised payment plan with the clerk before such date.
   74         (6)(5) When receiving partial payment of fees, service
   75  charges, court costs, and fines, clerks shall distribute funds
   76  according to the following order of priority:
   77         (a) That portion of fees, service charges, court costs, and
   78  fines to be remitted to the state for deposit into the General
   79  Revenue Fund.
   80         (b) That portion of fees, service charges, court costs, and
   81  fines required to be retained by the clerk of the court or
   82  deposited into the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund within the
   83  Department of Revenue.
   84         (c) That portion of fees, service charges, court costs, and
   85  fines payable to state trust funds, allocated on a pro rata
   86  basis among the various authorized funds if the total collection
   87  amount is insufficient to fully fund all such funds as provided
   88  by law.
   89         (d) That portion of fees, service charges, court costs, and
   90  fines payable to counties, municipalities, or other local
   91  entities, allocated on a pro rata basis among the various
   92  authorized recipients if the total collection amount is
   93  insufficient to fully fund all such recipients as provided by
   94  law.
   95  
   96  To offset processing costs, clerks shall impose may impose
   97  either a per-month service charge pursuant to s. 28.24(26)(b) or
   98  a one-time administrative processing service charge at the
   99  inception of the payment plan pursuant to s. 28.24(26)(b) s.
  100  28.24(26)(c).
  101         (8)A clerk of court may establish a multi-county
  102  intergovernmental authority pursuant to chapter 163 for the
  103  administration of payment plans in the various participating
  104  counties.
  105         Section 3. Section 28.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  106  read:
  107         28.42 Manual of filing fees, charges, costs, and fines;
  108  uniform payment plan forms.—
  109         (1) The clerks of court, through their association and in
  110  consultation with the Office of the State Courts Administrator,
  111  shall prepare and disseminate a manual of filing fees, service
  112  charges, costs, and fines imposed pursuant to state law, for
  113  each type of action and offense, and classified as mandatory or
  114  discretionary. The manual also shall classify the fee, charge,
  115  cost, or fine as court-related revenue or noncourt-related
  116  revenue. The clerks, through their association, shall
  117  disseminate this manual to the chief judge, state attorney,
  118  public defender, and court administrator in each circuit and to
  119  the clerk of the court in each county. The clerks, through their
  120  association and in consultation with the Office of the State
  121  Courts Administrator, shall at a minimum update and disseminate
  122  this manual on July 1 of each year.
  123         (2)By October 1, 2020, the clerks of court, through their
  124  association, in consultation with the Florida Clerks of Court
  125  Operations Corporation, shall develop a uniform payment plan
  126  form for use by persons seeking to establish a payment plan in
  127  accordance with s. 28.246. The form shall inform the person
  128  about the minimum payment due each month, the term of the plan,
  129  acceptable payment methods, and the circumstances under which a
  130  case may be sent to collections for nonpayment.
  131         (3)Beginning on January 1, 2021, each clerk of the court
  132  shall utilize the uniform payment plan form described in
  133  subsection (2) when establishing payment plans.
  134         Section 4. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
  135  318.15, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  136         318.15 Failure to comply with civil penalty or to appear;
  137  penalty.—
  138         (1)(a) If a person fails to comply with the civil penalties
  139  provided in s. 318.18 within the time period specified in s.
  140  318.14(4), fails to enter into or comply with the terms of a
  141  penalty payment plan with the clerk of the court in accordance
  142  with ss. 318.14 and 28.246, fails to attend driver improvement
  143  school, or fails to appear at a scheduled hearing, the clerk of
  144  the court shall notify the Department of Highway Safety and
  145  Motor Vehicles of such failure within 10 days after such
  146  failure, except as provided herein. Upon receipt of such notice,
  147  the department shall immediately issue an order suspending the
  148  driver license and privilege to drive of such person effective
  149  20 days after the date the order of suspension is mailed in
  150  accordance with s. 322.251(1), (2), and (6). The order must also
  151  contain information that the person may contact the clerk of the
  152  court to establish a payment plan pursuant to s. 28.246(4) to
  153  make partial payments for court-related fees, service charges,
  154  costs, and fines. Any such suspension of the driving privilege
  155  which has not been reinstated, including a similar suspension
  156  imposed outside Florida, shall remain on the records of the
  157  department for a period of 7 years from the date imposed and
  158  shall be removed from the records after the expiration of 7
  159  years from the date it is imposed. The department may not accept
  160  the resubmission of such suspension.
  161         Section 5. Section 318.20, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  162  read:
  163         318.20 Notification; duties of department.—The department
  164  shall prepare a notification form to be appended to, or
  165  incorporated as a part of, the Florida uniform traffic citation
  166  issued in accordance with s. 316.650. The notification form
  167  shall contain language informing persons charged with
  168  infractions to which this chapter applies of the procedures
  169  available to them under this chapter. Such notification shall
  170  contain a statement that, if the official determines that no
  171  infraction has been committed, no costs or penalties shall be
  172  imposed and any costs or penalties which have been paid shall be
  173  returned. A uniform traffic citation that is produced
  174  electronically must also include the information required by
  175  this section. The notification form and the uniform traffic
  176  citation must include information on paying the civil penalty to
  177  the clerk of the court.
  178         Section 6. Subsection (1) and paragraph (a) of subsection
  179  (5) of section 322.245, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  180         322.245 Suspension of license upon failure of person
  181  charged with specified offense under chapter 316, chapter 320,
  182  or this chapter to comply with directives ordered by traffic
  183  court or upon failure to pay child support in non-IV-D cases as
  184  provided in chapter 61 or failure to pay any financial
  185  obligation in any other criminal case.—
  186         (1) If a person charged with a violation of any of the
  187  criminal offenses enumerated in s. 318.17 or with the commission
  188  of any offense constituting a misdemeanor under chapter 320 or
  189  this chapter fails to comply with all of the directives of the
  190  court within the time allotted by the court, the clerk of the
  191  traffic court shall mail to the person, at the address specified
  192  on the uniform traffic citation, a notice of such failure,
  193  notifying him or her that, if he or she does not comply with the
  194  directives of the court within 30 days after the date of the
  195  notice and pay a delinquency fee of up to $25 to the clerk, from
  196  which the clerk shall remit $10 to the Department of Revenue for
  197  deposit into the General Revenue Fund, his or her driver license
  198  will be suspended. The notice shall be mailed no later than 5
  199  days after such failure, except as provided herein. The
  200  delinquency fee may be retained by the office of the clerk to
  201  defray the operating costs of the office.
  202         (5)(a) When the department receives notice from a clerk of
  203  the court that a person licensed to operate a motor vehicle in
  204  this state under the provisions of this chapter has failed to
  205  pay financial obligations for any criminal offense other than
  206  those specified in subsection (1), in full or in part under a
  207  payment plan pursuant to s. 28.246(4), the department shall
  208  suspend the license of the person named in the notice. The
  209  notice must also contain information that the person may contact
  210  the clerk of the court to establish a payment plan pursuant to
  211  s. 28.246(4) to make partial payments for court-related fees,
  212  service charges, costs, and fines.
  213         Section 7. Paragraph (i) of subsection (5) of section
  214  27.52, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  215         27.52 Determination of indigent status.—
  216         (5) INDIGENT FOR COSTS.—A person who is eligible to be
  217  represented by a public defender under s. 27.51 but who is
  218  represented by private counsel not appointed by the court for a
  219  reasonable fee as approved by the court or on a pro bono basis,
  220  or who is proceeding pro se, may move the court for a
  221  determination that he or she is indigent for costs and eligible
  222  for the provision of due process services, as prescribed by ss.
  223  29.006 and 29.007, funded by the state.
  224         (i) A defendant who is found guilty of a criminal act by a
  225  court or jury or enters a plea of guilty or nolo contendere and
  226  who received due process services after being found indigent for
  227  costs under this subsection is liable for payment of due process
  228  costs expended by the state.
  229         1. The attorney representing the defendant, or the
  230  defendant if he or she is proceeding pro se, shall provide an
  231  accounting to the court delineating all costs paid or to be paid
  232  by the state within 90 days after disposition of the case
  233  notwithstanding any appeals.
  234         2. The court shall issue an order determining the amount of
  235  all costs paid by the state and any costs for which prepayment
  236  was waived under this section or s. 57.081. The clerk shall
  237  cause a certified copy of the order to be recorded in the
  238  official records of the county, at no cost. The recording
  239  constitutes a lien against the person in favor of the state in
  240  the county in which the order is recorded. The lien may be
  241  enforced in the same manner prescribed in s. 938.29.
  242         3. If the attorney or the pro se defendant fails to provide
  243  a complete accounting of costs expended by the state and
  244  consequently costs are omitted from the lien, the attorney or
  245  pro se defendant may not receive reimbursement or any other form
  246  of direct or indirect payment for those costs if the state has
  247  not paid the costs. The attorney or pro se defendant shall repay
  248  the state for those costs if the state has already paid the
  249  costs. The clerk of the court may establish a payment plan under
  250  s. 28.246 and may charge the attorney or pro se defendant a one
  251  time administrative processing charge under s. 28.24(26)(b) s.
  252  28.24(26)(c).
  253         Section 8. Subsection (1) of section 34.191, Florida
  254  Statutes, is amended to read:
  255         34.191 Fines and forfeitures; dispositions.—
  256         (1) All fines and forfeitures arising from offenses tried
  257  in the county court shall be collected and accounted for by the
  258  clerk of the court and, other than the charge provided in s.
  259  318.1215, disbursed in accordance with ss. 28.2402, 34.045,
  260  142.01, and 142.03 and subject to the provisions of s. 28.246(6)
  261  and (7) s. 28.246(5) and (6). Notwithstanding the provisions of
  262  this section, all fines and forfeitures arising from operation
  263  of the provisions of s. 318.1215 shall be disbursed in
  264  accordance with that section.
  265         Section 9. Subsection (6) of section 57.082, Florida
  266  Statutes, is amended to read:
  267         57.082 Determination of civil indigent status.—
  268         (6) PROCESSING CHARGE; PAYMENT PLANS.—A person who the
  269  clerk or the court determines is indigent for civil proceedings
  270  under this section shall be enrolled in a payment plan under s.
  271  28.246 and shall be charged a one-time administrative processing
  272  charge under s. 28.24(26)(b) s. 28.24(26)(c). A monthly payment
  273  amount, calculated based upon all fees and all anticipated
  274  costs, is presumed to correspond to the person’s ability to pay
  275  if it does not exceed 2 percent of the person’s annual net
  276  income, as defined in subsection (1), divided by 12. The person
  277  may seek review of the clerk’s decisions regarding a payment
  278  plan established under s. 28.246 in the court having
  279  jurisdiction over the matter. A case may not be impeded in any
  280  way, delayed in filing, or delayed in its progress, including
  281  the final hearing and order, due to nonpayment of any fees or
  282  costs by an indigent person. Filing fees waived from payment
  283  under s. 57.081 may not be included in the calculation related
  284  to a payment plan established under this section.
  285         Section 10. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.
  286  
  287  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  288  And the title is amended as follows:
  289         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  290  and insert:
  291                        A bill to be entitled                      
  292         An act relating to fines and fees; amending s. 28.24,
  293         F.S.; removing the option for a monthly processing
  294         charge for certain payment plans established with the
  295         clerk of the circuit court; authorizing certain
  296         persons to pay partial payments of an existing
  297         administrative processing charge; amending s. 28.246
  298         F.S.; revising the methods by which the clerk of the
  299         circuit court may accept payments for certain fees,
  300         costs, and fines; requiring certain persons to apply
  301         to the clerk to enroll in a payment plan within a
  302         specified timeframe; requiring clerks to coordinate
  303         with courts to develop a specified process; providing
  304         requirements and court procedures for the payment
  305         plan; conforming a cross-reference; authorizing clerks
  306         of court to establish multi-county governmental
  307         authorities to administer payment plans; amending s.
  308         28.42, F.S.; requiring the clerks of court, in
  309         consultation with the Florida Clerks of Court
  310         Operations Corporation, to develop a uniform payment
  311         plan form by a specified date; providing requirements
  312         for such form; requiring clerks of court, by a
  313         specified date, to utilize such forms when
  314         establishing payment plans; amending s. 318.15, F.S.;
  315         expanding requirements for specified notice issued by
  316         the clerks of court to the Department of Highway
  317         Safety and Motor Vehicles to include information
  318         related to a person’s option to enter into a certain
  319         payment plan; amending s. 318.20, F.S.; requiring that
  320         a notification form and the uniform traffic citation
  321         include certain information about paying a civil
  322         penalty; amending s. 322.245, F.S.; expanding
  323         requirements for specified notices issued by the
  324         clerks of court to the Department of Highway Safety
  325         and Motor Vehicles to include information related to a
  326         person’s option to enter into a certain payment plan;
  327         amending ss. 27.52, 34.191, and 57.082, F.S.;
  328         conforming cross-references; providing an effective
  329         date.