Florida Senate - 2024 SB 950 By Senator Stewart 17-00934A-24 2024950__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to funding court technology; amending 3 s. 28.35, F.S.; authorizing clerks of court to fund 4 improvements to court technology from filing fees, 5 service charges, court costs, and fines; amending s. 6 318.18, F.S.; revising the distribution of a civil 7 penalty; providing an effective date. 8 9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 10 11 Section 1.Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 12 28.35, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 13 28.35Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation. 14 (3)(a)The list of court-related functions that clerks may 15 fund from filing fees, service charges, court costs, and fines 16 is limited to those functions expressly authorized by law or 17 court rule. Those functions include the following: case 18 maintenance; records management; court preparation and 19 attendance; processing the assignment, reopening, and 20 reassignment of cases; processing of appeals; collection and 21 distribution of fines, fees, service charges, and court costs; 22 processing of bond forfeiture payments; data collection and 23 reporting; determinations of indigent status; improving court 24 technology; and paying reasonable administrative support costs 25 to enable the clerk of the court to carry out these court 26 related functions. 27 Section 2.Paragraph (a) of subsection (8) and subsection 28 (18) of section 318.18, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 29 318.18Amount of penalties.The penalties required for a 30 noncriminal disposition pursuant to s. 318.14 or a criminal 31 offense listed in s. 318.17 are as follows: 32 (8)(a)Any person who fails to comply with the courts 33 requirements or who fails to pay the civil penalties specified 34 in this section within the 30-day period provided for in s. 35 318.14 must pay an additional civil penalty of $16, $1.50 $6.50 36 of which must be remitted to the Department of Revenue for 37 deposit in the General Revenue Fund, and $9.50 of which must be 38 remitted to the Department of Revenue for deposit in the Highway 39 Safety Operating Trust Fund, and $5.00 shall be retained by the 40 clerk to be deposited in the Public Records Modernization Trust 41 Fund and used exclusively for funding court-related technology 42 needs of the clerk as described in s. 29.008(1)(f)2. and (h). Of 43 this additional civil penalty of $16, $4 is not revenue for 44 purposes of s. 28.36 and may not be used in establishing the 45 budget of the clerk of the court under that section or s. 28.35. 46 The department shall contract with the Florida Association of 47 Court Clerks, Inc., to design, establish, operate, upgrade, and 48 maintain an automated statewide Uniform Traffic Citation 49 Accounting System to be operated by the clerks of the court 50 which shall include, but not be limited to, the accounting for 51 traffic infractions by type, a record of the disposition of the 52 citations, and an accounting system for the fines assessed and 53 the subsequent fine amounts paid to the clerks of the court. The 54 clerks of the court must provide the information required by 55 this chapter to be transmitted to the department by electronic 56 transmission pursuant to the contract. 57 (18)In addition to any penalties imposed, an 58 administrative fee of $12.50 must be paid for all noncriminal 59 moving and nonmoving violations under chapters 316, 320, and 60 322. Of this $12.50 administrative fee, $6.25 must be deposited 61 into the Public Records Modernization Trust Fund and used 62 exclusively for funding court-related technology needs of the 63 clerk, as defined in s. 29.008(1)(f)2. and (h), and $6.25 must 64 be deposited into the fine and forfeiture fund established 65 pursuant to s. 142.01 The clerk shall remit the administrative 66 fee to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the General 67 Revenue Fund. 68 Section 3.This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.