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2015 Florida Statutes

Title V JUDICIAL BRANCH
Chapter 28 CLERKS OF THE CIRCUIT COURTS Entire Chapter
SECTION 37
Fines, fees, service charges, and costs remitted to the state.
F.S. 28.37
28.37 Fines, fees, service charges, and costs remitted to the state.—
(1) Pursuant to s. 14(b), Art. V of the State Constitution, selected salaries, costs, and expenses of the state courts system and court-related functions shall be funded from a portion of the revenues derived from statutory fines, fees, service charges, and costs collected by the clerks of the court.
(2) Beginning November 1, 2013, that portion of all fines, fees, service charges, and costs collected by the clerks of the court for the previous month which is in excess of one-twelfth of the clerks’ total budget for the performance of court-related functions shall be remitted to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund. Such collections do not include funding received for the operation of the Title IV-D child support collections and disbursement program. The clerk of the court shall remit the revenues collected during the previous month due to the state on or before the 10th day of each month.
(3) No later than January 25, 2015, and each January 25 thereafter for the previous county fiscal year, the clerks of court, in consultation with the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation, shall remit to the Department of Revenue for deposit in the General Revenue Fund the cumulative excess of all fines, fees, service charges, and costs retained by the clerks of the court, plus any funds received by the clerks of the court from the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund under s. 28.36(3), which exceed the amount needed to meet their authorized budget amounts established under s. 28.35. The Department of Revenue shall transfer from the Clerks of Court Trust Fund to the General Revenue Fund the cumulative excess of all fines, fees, service charges, and costs submitted by the clerks of court pursuant to subsection (2). However, if the official estimate for funds accruing to the clerks of court made by the Revenue Estimating Conference for the current fiscal year or the next fiscal year is less than the cumulative amount of authorized budgets for the clerks of court for the current fiscal year, the Department of Revenue shall retain in the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund the estimated amount needed to fully fund the clerks of court for the current and next fiscal year based upon the current budget established under s. 28.35.
(4) The Department of Revenue shall collect any funds that the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation determines upon investigation were due but not remitted to the Department of Revenue. The corporation shall notify the clerk of the court and the Department of Revenue of the amount due to the Department of Revenue. The clerk of the court shall remit the amount due no later than the 10th day of the month following the month in which notice is provided by the corporation to the clerk of the court.
(5) Ten percent of all court-related fines collected by the clerk, except for penalties or fines distributed to counties or municipalities under s. 316.0083(1)(b)3. or s. 318.18(15)(a), shall be deposited into the clerk’s Public Records Modernization Trust Fund to be used exclusively for additional clerk court-related operational needs and program enhancements.
History.—s. 38, ch. 2003-402; s. 25, ch. 2004-265; s. 12, ch. 2005-236; s. 5, ch. 2009-204; s. 5, ch. 2012-100; s. 8, ch. 2013-44.