FL
Florida House Bill H0397

Florida 2022 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0397 Compare Versions

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1010 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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14+A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to court fiscal administration; 2
1616 amending s. 28.246, F.S.; revising the calculation 3
1717 used to determine the presumed ability to pay certain 4
1818 fees, charges, costs, and fines; providing a formula 5
1919 for determining a specified down payment; providing 6
2020 construction; amending s. 28.35, F.S.; requiring the 7
2121 Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation to 8
2222 provide a recommendation on the distribution of 9
2323 specified fees, charges, costs, and fines; providing 10
2424 that the corporation shall complete specified duties 11
2525 under certain circumstances; requiring the corporation 12
2626 to annually prepare a specified budget request; 13
2727 providing that such a request is not subject to change 14
2828 by the Justice Administrative Commission; providing an 15
2929 exception; providing that the Justice Administrative 16
3030 Commission shall submit the request to the Governor 17
3131 for transmittal to the Legislature; amending s. 40.29, 18
3232 F.S.; authorizing the clerk of th e circuit court to 19
3333 request reimbursement for certain filings at a 20
3434 specified rate and in a certain manner; amending s. 21
3535 57.082, F.S.; authorizing the clerk to conduct a 22
3636 review of specified records; requiring the clerk to 23
3737 maintain the results of such review i n a specified 24
3838 manner and provide the results in such manner to the 25
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4747 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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5151 court under specified provisions; authorizing the 26
5252 clerk to use the results of the review when making a 27
5353 determination of indigence; amending s. 322.29, F.S.; 28
5454 requiring the Department of High way Safety and Motor 29
5555 Vehicles to work with a specified association to 30
5656 implement certain technology; providing an effective 31
5757 date. 32
5858 33
5959 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 34
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6161 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 36
6262 28.246, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 37
6363 28.246 Payment of court -related fines or other monetary 38
6464 penalties, fees, charges, and costs; partial payments; 39
6565 distribution of funds. — 40
6666 (4) 41
6767 (b) An individual seeking to defer payment of fees, 42
6868 service charges, court costs, or fines imposed by operation of 43
6969 law or order of the court under any provision of general law 44
7070 shall apply to the clerk for enrollment in a payment plan. The 45
7171 clerk shall enter into a payment plan with an individual who the 46
7272 court determines is ind igent for costs. It is the responsibility 47
7373 of an individual who is released from incarceration and has 48
7474 outstanding court obligations to contact the clerk within 30 49
7575 days after release to pay fees, service charges, court costs, 50
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8484 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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8888 and fines in full, or to apply for enrollment in a payment plan. 51
8989 1. A monthly payment amount, calculated based upon all 52
9090 fees and all anticipated fees, service charges, court costs, and 53
9191 fines, is presumed to correspond to the person's ability to pay 54
9292 if the amount does not exceed the greater of: 55
9393 a. Two 2 percent of the person's annual net income, as 56
9494 defined in s. 27.52(1), divided by 12 ; or 57
9595 b. Twenty five dollars. 58
9696 2. Any amount required by the clerk as down payment to 59
9797 initially establish a payment plan shall be the lesser of 10 60
9898 percent of the total amount owed or $100. The amount does not 61
9999 include the imposition of a service charge pursuant to s. 62
100100 28.24(27)(b) or (c). The clerk shall establish all terms of a 63
101101 payment plan, and the court may review the reasonableness of the 64
102102 payment plan. 65
103103 Section 2. Paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section 66
104104 28.35, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (i) is added 67
105105 to that subsection, to read: 68
106106 28.35 Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation. — 69
107107 (2) The duties of the corporation shall incl ude the 70
108108 following: 71
109109 (c)1. Recommending to the Legislature changes in the 72
110110 amounts and distribution of the various court -related fines, 73
111111 fees, service charges, and costs established by law to ensure 74
112112 reasonable and adequate funding of the clerks of the court in 75
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121121 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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125125 the performance of their court -related functions. 76
126126 2. If the number of judges under s. 26.031 or s. 34.022 is 77
127127 increased, the corporation shall: 78
128128 a. Develop a formula to be used to estimate the total cost 79
129129 associated with clerk support for circuit and county judges 80
130130 statewide. 81
131131 b. Make a recommendation for consideration by the 82
132132 Legislature on any need for additional funding using the formula 83
133133 approved in sub-subparagraph a. 84
134134 (i) Annually preparing a budget re quest which, 85
135135 notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 216 and in accordance 86
136136 with s. 216.351, provides the anticipated amount necessary for 87
137137 reimbursement pursuant to s. 40.29(6). The request for the 88
138138 anticipated reimbursement amount shall be submitted in the form 89
139139 and manner prescribed by the Justice Administrative Commission. 90
140140 Such request is not subject to change by the Justice 91
141141 Administrative Commission, except for technical changes 92
142142 necessary to conform to the legislative budget instructions, and 93
143143 shall be submitted to the Governor for transmittal to the 94
144144 Legislature. 95
145145 Section 3. Subsection (6) is added to section 40.29, 96
146146 Florida Statutes, to read: 97
147147 40.29 Payment of due -process costs; reimbursement for 98
148148 petitions and orders .— 99
149149 (6) Subject to legislative appropriation, the clerk of the 100
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158158 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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162162 circuit court may, on a quarterly basis, submit to the Justice 101
163163 Administrative Commission a certified request for reimbursement 102
164164 for petitions and orders filed under ss. 394.459, 394.463, 103
165165 394.467, 394.917, and 397.6814, at the rate of $40 per petition 104
166166 or order. Such request for reimbursement shall be submitted in 105
167167 the form and manner prescribed by the Justice Administrative 106
168168 Commission pursuant to s. 28.35(2)(i). 107
169169 Section 4. Paragraphs (a) and (d) o f subsection (2) of 108
170170 section 57.082, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 109
171171 57.082 Determination of civil indigent status. — 110
172172 (2) DETERMINATION BY THE CLERK. —The clerk of the court 111
173173 shall determine whether an applicant seeking such designation is 112
174174 indigent based upon the information provided in the application 113
175175 and the criteria prescribed in this subsection. 114
176176 (a)1. An applicant, including an applicant who is a minor 115
177177 or an adult tax-dependent person, is indigent if the applicant's 116
178178 income is equal to or below 200 percent of the then -current 117
179179 federal poverty guidelines prescribed for the size of the 118
180180 household of the applicant by the United States Department of 119
181181 Health and Human Services. 120
182182 2. There is a presumption that the applicant is not 121
183183 indigent if the applica nt owns, or has equity in, any intangible 122
184184 or tangible personal property or real property or the expectancy 123
185185 of an interest in any such property having a net equity value of 124
186186 $2,500 or more, excluding the value of the person's homestead 125
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195195 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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199199 and one vehicle having a net value not exceeding $5,000. 126
200200 3. Notwithstanding the information provided by the 127
201201 applicant, the clerk may conduct a review of the property 128
202202 records for the county in which the applicant resides and the 129
203203 motor vehicle title records of this state to ide ntify any 130
204204 property interests of the applicant under this paragraph. The 131
205205 clerk may evaluate and consider the results of the review in 132
206206 making a determination under this subsection. If a review is 133
207207 conducted, the clerk must maintain the results of the review i n 134
208208 a file with the application and provide the file to the court if 135
209209 an applicant seeks review under subsection (4) of the clerk's 136
210210 determination of indigent status. 137
211211 (d) The duty of the clerk in determining whether an 138
212212 applicant is indigent is limited to rec eiving the application , 139
213213 conducting a review of records under subparagraph (a)3., and 140
214214 comparing the information provided in the application and 141
215215 identified in the review of records to the criteria prescribed 142
216216 in this subsection. The determination of indigent status is a 143
217217 ministerial act of the clerk and may not a decision be based on 144
218218 further investigation or the exercise of independent judgment by 145
219219 the clerk. The clerk may contract with third parties to perform 146
220220 functions assigned to the clerk under this section . 147
221221 Section 5. Subsection (3) is added to section 322.29, 148
222222 Florida Statutes, to read: 149
223223 322.29 Surrender and return of license. — 150
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232232 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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236236 (3) The department must work with the clerks of court, 151
237237 through their association, to ensure the ability within their 152
238238 technology systems for clerks of court to reinstate suspended 153
239239 driver licenses for failure to pay court obligations. 154
240240 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 155