Enrolled Copy H.B. 531
1 COURT FEE MODIFICATIONS
2 2023 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Chief Sponsor: Kay J. Christofferson
5 Senate Sponsor: Curtis S. Bramble
6
7LONG TITLE
8General Description:
9 This bill addresses court fees.
10Highlighted Provisions:
11 This bill:
12 <defines terms related to fees;
13 <requires the Judicial Council to provide a report on fees to the Legislature; and
14 <makes technical and conforming changes.
15Money Appropriated in this Bill:
16 None
17Other Special Clauses:
18 None
19Utah Code Sections Affected:
20AMENDS:
21 63J-1-504, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2022, Chapter 73
22ENACTS:
23 78A-2-310, Utah Code Annotated 1953
24
25Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
26 Section 1. Section 63J-1-504 is amended to read:
27 63J-1-504. Fees -- Adoption, procedure, and approval -- Establishing and
28assessing fees without legislative approval -- Report summarizing fees.
29 (1) As used in this section: H.B. 531 Enrolled Copy
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30 (a) (i) "Agency" means each department, commission, board, council, agency,
31institution, officer, corporation, fund, division, office, committee, authority, laboratory, library,
32unit, bureau, panel, or other administrative unit of the state.
33 (ii) "Agency" does not include:
34 (A) the Legislature or a committee or staff office of the Legislature[.]; or
35 (B) the Judiciary, as that term is defined in Section 78A-2-310.
36 (b) "Agency's cost" means all of a fee agency's direct and indirect costs and expenses
37for providing the goods or service for which the fee agency charges a fee or for regulating the
38industry in which the persons paying the fee operate, including:
39 (i) salaries, benefits, contracted labor costs, travel expenses, training expenses,
40equipment and material costs, depreciation expense, utility costs, and other overhead costs; and
41 (ii) costs and expenses for administering the fee.
42 (c) "Fee agency" means an agency that is authorized to establish and charge a service
43fee or a regulatory fee.
44 (d) "Fee schedule" means the complete list of service fees and regulatory fees charged
45by a fee agency and the amount of those fees.
46 (e) "Regulatory fee" means a fee that a fee agency charges to cover the agency's cost of
47regulating the industry in which the persons paying the fee operate.
48 (f) "Service fee" means a fee that a fee agency charges to cover the agency's cost of
49providing the goods or service for which the fee is charged.
50 (2) (a) A fee agency that charges or intends to charge a service fee or regulatory fee
51shall adopt a fee schedule.
52 (b) A service fee or regulatory fee that a fee agency charges shall:
53 (i) be reasonable and fair;
54 (ii) reflect and be based on the agency's cost for the fee; and
55 (iii) be established according to a cost formula determined by the executive director of
56the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget and the director of the Division of Finance in
57conjunction with the fee agency seeking to establish the fee. Enrolled Copy H.B. 531
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58 (3) Except as provided in Subsection (7), a fee agency may not:
59 (a) set fees by rule; or
60 (b) create, change, or collect any fee unless the fee has been established according to
61the procedures and requirements of this section.
62 (4) Each fee agency that is proposing a new fee or proposing to change a fee shall:
63 (a) present each proposed fee at a public hearing, subject to the requirements of Title
6452, Chapter 4, Open and Public Meetings Act;
65 (b) increase, decrease, or affirm each proposed fee based on the results of the public
66hearing;
67 (c) except as provided in Subsection (8), submit the fee schedule to the Legislature as
68part of the agency's annual appropriations request; and
69 (d) modify the fee schedule as necessary to implement the Legislature's actions.
70 (5) (a) No later than November 30, 2022, the Governor's Office of Planning and
71Budget and the Division of Finance shall submit a report to the Infrastructure and General
72Government Appropriations Subcommittee of the Legislature.
73 (b) A report under Subsection (5)(a) shall:
74 (i) provide a summary of:
75 (A) the types of service fees and regulatory fees included in the fee schedules of all fee
76agencies;
77 (B) the methods used by fee agencies to determine the amount of fees;
78 (C) each estimated agency's cost related to each fee;
79 (D) whether a fee is intended to cover the agency's cost related to the fee;
80 (E) whether the fee agency intends to subsidize the fee to cover the agency's cost
81related to the fee and, if so, the fee agency's justification for the subsidy; and
82 (F) whether the fee agency set the fee at an amount that exceeds the agency's cost
83related to the fee and, if so, the fee agency's justification for the excess fee; and
84 (ii) include any recommendations for improving the process described in this section.
85 (6) (a) A fee agency shall submit the fee agency's fee schedule to the Legislature for the H.B. 531 Enrolled Copy
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86Legislature's approval on an annual basis.
87 (b) The Legislature may approve, increase or decrease and approve, or reject any fee
88submitted to it by a fee agency.
89 (7) After conducting the public hearing required by this section, a fee agency may
90establish and assess fees without first obtaining legislative approval if:
91 (a) (i) the Legislature creates a new program that is to be funded by fees to be set by the
92Legislature;
93 (ii) the new program's effective date is before the Legislature's next annual general
94session; and
95 (iii) the fee agency submits the fee schedule for the new program to the Legislature for
96its approval at a special session, if allowed in the governor's call, or at the next annual general
97session of the Legislature, whichever is sooner; or
98 (b) (i) the fee agency proposes to increase or decrease an existing fee for the purpose of
99adding or removing a transactional fee that is charged or assessed by a non-governmental third
100party but is included as part of the fee charged by the fee agency;
101 (ii) the amount of the increase or decrease in the fee is equal to the amount of the
102transactional fee charged or assessed by the non-governmental third party; and
103 (iii) the increased or decreased fee is submitted to the Legislature for the Legislature's
104approval at a special session, if allowed in the governor's call, or at the next annual session of
105the Legislature, whichever is sooner.
106 (8) (a) A fee agency that intends to change any fee shall submit to the governor, as part
107of the agency's annual appropriation request a list that identifies:
108 (i) the title or purpose of the fee;
109 (ii) the present amount of the fee;
110 (iii) the proposed new amount of the fee;
111 (iv) the percent that the fee will have increased if the Legislature approves the higher
112fee;
113 (v) the estimated total annual revenue and total estimated annual revenue change that Enrolled Copy H.B. 531
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114will result from the changed fee;
115 (vi) the account or fund into which the fee will be deposited;
116 (vii) the reason for the change in the fee;
117 (viii) the estimated number of persons to be charged the fee;
118 (ix) the estimated agency's cost related to the fee;
119 (x) whether the fee is a service fee or a regulatory fee;
120 (xi) whether the fee is intended to cover the agency's cost related to the fee;
121 (xii) whether the fee agency intends to subsidize the fee to cover the agency's cost
122related to the fee and, if so, the fee agency's justification for the subsidy; and
123 (xiii) whether the fee agency set the fee at an amount that exceeds the agency's cost
124related to the fee and, if so, the fee agency's justification for the excess fee.
125 (b) (i) The governor may review and approve, modify and approve, or reject the fee
126increases.
127 (ii) The governor shall transmit the list required by Subsection (8)(a), with any
128modifications, to the legislative fiscal analyst with the governor's budget recommendations.
129 (c) Bills approving any fee change shall be filed before the beginning of the
130Legislature's annual general session, if possible.
131 (9) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (9)(b), the School and Institutional Trust
132Lands Administration, established in Section 53C-1-201, is exempt from the requirements of
133this section.
134 (b) The following fees of the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration are
135subject to the requirements of this section: application, assignment, amendment, affidavit for
136lost documents, name change, reinstatement, grazing nonuse, extension of time, partial
137conveyance, patent reissue, collateral assignment, electronic payment, and processing.
138 Section 2. Section 78A-2-310 is enacted to read:
139 78A-2-310. Report by Judicial Council on court fees.
140 (1) As used in this section:
141 (a) "Cost" means the direct and indirect costs and expenses for providing the good or H.B. 531 Enrolled Copy
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142service for which a fee is charged, including:
143 (i) salaries, benefits, contracted labor costs, travel expenses, training expenses,
144equipment and material costs, depreciation expenses, utility costs, and other overhead costs;
145and
146 (ii) costs and expenses for administering the fee.
147 (b) (i) "Judiciary" means the Judicial Council, the Supreme Court, the Court of
148Appeals, a district court, or a juvenile court.
149 (ii) "Judiciary" includes any board, committee, or staff office of the Judicial Council,
150the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, a district court, or a juvenile court.
151 (2) Before November 30 of each year, the Judicial Council shall submit a report to the
152Infrastructure and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee of the Legislature that:
153 (a) includes details on:
154 (i) the types of fees charged and collected by the Judiciary;
155 (ii) the methods used to determine the amount of each fee charged and collected by the
156Judiciary;
157 (iii) the Judiciary's estimated cost related to each fee;
158 (iv) whether each fee is intended to cover the Judiciary's cost related to the fee; and
159 (v) the number of fee waivers granted by the Judiciary for each type of fee charged and
160collected by the Judiciary; and
161 (b) include any recommendations regarding fees charged and collected by the
162Judiciary.
163 (3) If the Judicial Council recommends that the Legislature create a fee or modify an
164existing fee under Subsection (2)(b), the Judicial Council shall include the following
165information with the recommendation:
166 (a) the title or purpose of the fee;
167 (b) the present amount of the fee;
168 (c) the proposed amount of the fee;
169 (d) the percent that the fee will have increased or decreased if the Legislature approves Enrolled Copy H.B. 531
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170the modification of the fee;
171 (e) the estimated total annual revenue and total estimated annual revenue change that
172will result from the creation or modification of the fee;
173 (f) the account or fund into which the fee will be deposited;
174 (g) the reason for the creating or modifying the fee;
175 (h) the estimated number of persons to be charged the fee;
176 (i) the Judiciary's estimated cost related to the fee; and
177 (j) whether the fee is intended to cover the Judiciary's cost related to the fee.