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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
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to clerks of court; amending s. 27.52, 2
F.S.; revising the fund into which moneys recovered by 3
certain state attorneys must be remitted; amending s. 4
27.54, F.S.; revising the fund into which certain 5
payments received must be remitted as related to 6
public defenders or regional counsels; amending s. 7
27.703, F.S.; revising the entity that funds the 8
capital collateral regional counsel ; amending s. 9
28.35, F.S.; revising the list of court -related 10
functions that clerks may fund from filing fees, 11
service charges, court costs, and fines; amending s. 12
34.041, F.S.; revising the fund into which certain 13
filing fees are to be deposited; amending 57.082, 14
F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made by the 15
act; amending s. 110.112, F.S.; removing a provision 16
requiring each state attorney to publish an annual 17
report addressing results of his or her affirmative 18
action program; amending s. 186.003, F.S .; revising 19
the definition of "state agency" for certain purposes; 20
amending s. 318.18, F.S.; revising the distribution of 21
certain administrative fees; creating s. 322.76, F.S.; 22
creating the Clerk of the Court Driver License 23
Reinstatement Pilot Program; aut horizing the Clerk of 24
the Circuit Court for Miami -Dade County to reinstate 25
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or provide an affidavit to the department to reinstate 26
certain suspended driver licenses; establishing 27
requirements for the clerk under the program to be 28
performed by a date certain ; providing for expiration 29
of the program; amending s. 501.2101, F.S.; revising 30
the funds into which certain moneys received by state 31
attorneys must be deposited; providing an effective 32
date. 33
34
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 35
36
Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (7) of section 37
27.52, Florida Statutes is amended to read: 38
27.52 Determination of indigent status. — 39
(7) FINANCIAL DISCREPANCIES; FRAUD; FALSE INFORMATION. — 40
(b) If the court has reason to believe that any appl icant, 41
through fraud or misrepresentation, was improperly determined to 42
be indigent or indigent for costs, the matter shall be referred 43
to the state attorney. Twenty -five percent of any amount 44
recovered by the state attorney as reasonable value of the 45
services rendered, including fees, charges, and costs paid by 46
the state on the person's behalf, shall be remitted to the 47
Department of Revenue for deposit into the Grants and Donations 48
Trust Fund of the applicable state attorney within the Justice 49
Administrative Commission. Seventy-five percent of any amount 50
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recovered shall be remitted to the Department of Revenue for 51
deposit into the General Revenue Fund. 52
Section 2. Paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section 53
27.54, Florida Statutes, is amended to 54
27.54 Limitation on payment of expenditures other than by 55
the state.— 56
(2) A county or municipality may contract with, or 57
appropriate or contribute funds to, the operation of the offices 58
of the various public defenders and regional counsels counsel as 59
provided in this subsection. A public defender or regional 60
counsel defending violations of special laws or county or 61
municipal ordinances punishable by incarceration and not 62
ancillary to a state charge shall contract with counties and 63
municipalities to recover the f ull cost of services rendered on 64
an hourly basis or reimburse the state for the full cost of 65
assigning one or more full -time equivalent attorney positions to 66
work on behalf of the county or municipality. Notwithstanding 67
any other provision of law, in the c ase of a county with a 68
population of less than 75,000, the public defender or regional 69
counsel shall contract for full reimbursement, or for 70
reimbursement as the parties otherwise agree. In local ordinance 71
violation cases, the county or municipality shall pay for due 72
process services that are approved by the court, including 73
deposition costs, deposition transcript costs, investigative 74
costs, witness fees, expert witness costs, and interpreter 75
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costs. The person charged with the violation shall be assessed a 76
fee for the services of a public defender or regional counsel 77
and other costs and fees paid by the county or municipality, 78
which assessed fee may be reduced to a lien, in all instances in 79
which the person enters a plea of guilty or no contest or is 80
found to be in violation or guilty of any count or lesser 81
included offense of the charge or companion case charges, 82
regardless of adjudication. The court shall determine the amount 83
of the obligation. The county or municipality may recover 84
assessed fees through co llections court or as otherwise 85
permitted by law, and any fees recovered pursuant to this 86
section shall be forwarded to the applicable county or 87
municipality as reimbursement. 88
(c) Any payments received pursuant to this subsection 89
shall be deposited into the Grants and Donations Trust Fund of 90
within the applicable public defender or criminal conflict and 91
civil regional counsel Justice Administrative Commission for 92
appropriation by the Legislature. 93
Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 27.703, Florida 94
Statutes, is amended to read: 95
27.703 Conflict of interest and substitute counsel. — 96
(2) Appointed counsel shall be paid from funds 97
appropriated to the Justice Administrative Commission Chief 98
Financial Officer. The hourly rate may not exceed $100. However, 99
all appointments of private counsel under this section shall be 100
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in accordance with ss. 27.710 and 27.711. 101
Section 4. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 102
28.35, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 103
28.35 Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation.— 104
(3)(a) The list of court -related functions that clerks may 105
fund from filing fees, service charges, court costs, and fines 106
is limited to those functions expressly authorized by law or 107
court rule. Those functions include the following: case 108
maintenance; records management; court preparation and 109
attendance; processing the assignment, reopening, and 110
reassignment of cases; processing of appeals; collection and 111
distribution of fines, fees, service charges, and court costs; 112
processing of bond forfe iture payments; data collection and 113
reporting; determinations of indigent status; improving court 114
technology; and paying reasonable administrative support costs 115
to enable the clerk of the court to carry out these court -116
related functions. 117
Section 5. Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section 118
34.041, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 119
34.041 Filing fees.— 120
(1) 121
(d) The clerk of court shall collect a service charge of 122
$10 for issuing a summons or an electronic certified copy of a 123
summons, which the clerk shall deposit into the fine and 124
forfeiture fund established pursuant to s. 142.01 remit to the 125
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Department of Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue 126
Fund. The clerk shall assess the fee against the party seeking 127
to have the summons issued. 128
Section 6. Paragraph (b) of subsection (7) of section 129
57.082, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 130
57.082 Determination of civil indigent status. — 131
(7) FINANCIAL DISCREPANCIES; FRAUD; FALSE INFORMATION. — 132
(b) If the court has reason to believe that any applicant, 133
through fraud or misrepresentation, was improperly determined to 134
be indigent, the matter shall be referred t o the state attorney. 135
Twenty-five percent of any amount recovered by the state 136
attorney as reasonable value of the services rendered, including 137
fees, charges, and costs paid by the state on the person's 138
behalf, shall be remitted to the Department of Revenu e for 139
deposit into the Grants and Donations Trust Fund of within the 140
applicable state attorney Justice Administrative Commission . 141
Seventy-five percent of any amount recovered shall be remitted 142
to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the General 143
Revenue Fund. 144
Section 7. Paragraph (d) of subsection (4) of section 145
110.112, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 146
110.112 Affirmative action; equal employment opportunity. — 147
(4) Each state attorney and public defender shall: 148
(d) Report annually to the J ustice Administrative 149
Commission on the implementation, continuance, updating, and 150
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results of his or her affirmative action program for the 151
previous fiscal year. 152
Section 8. Subsection (6) of section 186.003, Florida 153
Statutes, is amended to read: 154
186.003 Definitions; ss. 186.001 -186.031, 186.801-155
186.901.—As used in ss. 186.001 -186.031 and 186.801-186.901, the 156
term: 157
(6) "State agency" or "agency" means any official, officer, 158
commission, board, authority, council, committee, or department 159
of the executive branch of state government. For purposes of 160
this chapter, "state agency" or "agency" includes state 161
attorneys, public defenders, the capital collateral regional 162
counsel, the Justice Administrative Commission, and the Public 163
Service Commission. 164
Section 9. Subsection (18) of section 318.18, Florida 165
Statutes, is amended to read: 166
318.18 Amount of penalties. —The penalties required for a 167
noncriminal disposition pursuant to s. 318.14 or a criminal 168
offense listed in s. 318.17 are as follows: 169
(18) In addition to any penalties imposed, an 170
administrative fee of $12.50 must be paid for all noncriminal 171
moving and nonmoving violations under chapters 316, 320, and 172
322. Of this administrative fee, $6.25 must be deposited into 173
the Public Records Modernization Tru st Fund and used exclusively 174
for funding court-related technology needs of the clerk, as 175
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defined in s. 29.008(1)(f)2. and (h), and $6.25 must be 176
deposited into the fine and forfeiture fund established pursuant 177
to s. 142.01 The clerk shall remit the adminis trative fee to the 178
Department of Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue Fund . 179
Section 10. Section 322.76, Florida Statutes, is created 180
to read: 181
322.76 Miami-Dade County the Clerk of Court Driver License 182
Reinstatement Pilot Program. -There is created in Miami-Dade 183
County the Clerk of Court Driver License Reinstatement Pilot 184
Program. 185
(1) As used in this section, the term "clerk" means the 186
Clerk of the Circuit Court for Miami -Dade County. 187
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary in 188
this chapter, the clerk may reinstate or provide an affidavit to 189
the department to reinstate a suspended driver license: 190
(a) For a person's failure to fulfill a court -ordered 191
child support obligation. 192
(b) As a result of the end of suspension because of 193
points, under s. 322.27, notwithstanding hardship license. 194
(c) For failure to comply with any provision of chapter 195
318 or this chapter. 196
(3) Notwithstanding s. 322.29(1), an examination is not 197
required for the reinstatement of a driver license suspended 198
under s. 318.15 or s. 322.245 unless an examination is otherwise 199
required by this chapter. A person applying for the 200
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reinstatement of a dr iver license suspended under s. 318.15 or 201
s. 322.245 must present to the clerk certification from the 202
court that he or she has either complied with all obligations 203
and penalties imposed pursuant to s. 318.15 or with all 204
directives of the court and the requ irements of s. 322.245. 205
(4) A nonrefundable service fee must be paid pursuant to 206
s. 322.29(2). 207
(5) Before July 1, 2024, the department shall work with 208
the clerk, through its association, to ensure the ability within 209
its technology system for the clerk to reinstate suspended 210
driver licenses under the pilot program, to begin on July 1, 211
2024. 212
(6) By December 31, 2025, the clerk must submit the 213
Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House 214
of Representatives, and the Executive Director o f the Florida 215
Clerks of Court Operations Corporation a report containing the 216
following information: 217
(a) Number of driver license reinstatements. 218
(b) Amount of fees and costs collected, including the 219
aggregate funds received by the clerk, local governme ntal 220
entities, and state entities, including the General Revenue 221
Fund. 222
(c) The personnel, operating, and other expenditures 223
incurred by the clerk. 224
(d) Feedback received from the community, if any, in 225
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response to the clerk's participation in the pilot p rogram. 226
(e) Whether the pilot program led to improved timeliness 227
for the reinstatement of driver licenses. 228
(f) The clerk's recommendation as to whether the pilot 229
program should be extended in Miami -Dade County or to other 230
clerks' offices. 231
(g) Any other information the clerk deems necessary. 232
(7) This section is repealed on July 1, 2026. 233
Section 11. Subsection (1) of section 501.2101, Florida 234
Statutes, is amended to read: 235
501.2101 Enforcing authorities; moneys received in certain 236
proceedings.— 237
(1) Any moneys received by an enforcing authority for 238
attorney attorney's fees and costs of investigation or 239
litigation in proceedings brought under the provisions of s. 240
501.207, s. 501.208, or s. 501.211 shall be deposited as 241
received in the Legal Affairs Revolving Trust Fund if the action 242
is brought by the Department of Legal Affairs, and in the Grants 243
and Donations Consumer Frauds Trust Fund of a state attorney the 244
Justice Administrative Commission if the action is brought by 245
the a state attorney. 246
Section 12. This act shall take effect upon becoming a 247
law. 248