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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 2006.08 Amending chapter 5 of the town code relating to court fees SMARA TOWN OF MARANA ATTN: TOWN CLERK 11555 W CIVIC CENTER DR MARANA AZ 85653 ORDIN 12778 345 3 20060670175 04/07/2006 12:43 . F. ANN RODRIGUEZ, RECORDER RECORDED BY: ALH DEPUTY RECORDER 072 6 PEl DOCKET: PAGE: NO. OF PAGES: SEQUENCE: MAIL AMOUNT PAID $ 8.00 ~ MARANA ORDINANCE NO. 2006.08 RELATING TO MUNICIPAL COURT; REVISING COURT FEES; AMENDING MARANA TOWN CODE SECTION 5-6-1 ENTITLED "FEE SCHEDULE FOR COURT COSTS"; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. WHEREAS the Town Council finds that revision of fees payable in the Marana Munici- pal Court is in the best interests of the Town and its residents. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF MARANA, as follows: SECTION 1. Title 5 of the Marana Town Code is hereby revised by amending sec- tion 5-6-1 entitled "Fee schedule for court costs" as follows (with deletions shown with 5tfike- oots and additions shown with double underlining:): Chapter 5-6 Section 5-6-1 FEES Fee schedule for court costs A. The following fees are established to recover costs associated with the fees charged to the town treasury for returned checks and additional costs incurred due to court non-appearance. 1. The fee for the taking of a default judgment shall be~. 2. The fee for all returned checks shall be $20 per item. S. The following municioal court fees are established. to be to allow the munici pal court to impose and collect new court fees and allocate charges to defen dants 'Nho incur them. These fees shall be imposed in addition to fees other- wise assessable by statute. 1. Any person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor criminal offense in the Marana town Court and sentenced to a term of incarceration in any de- tention facility authorized by law shall be required to pay a jail reimburse- ment fee in the amount actually paid by the town for that incarceration. 2. Upon a defendant's conviction at trial or conviction by plea agreement the Marana town Court shall impose a one time $25 per citation prosecution fee against each defendant. unless a hicher or lower amount is imoosed bv a written olea acreement based uoon the actual cost of orosecution ser- vices and the indicent status of the defendant. in an amount set forth be tew;. a. The prosecution fee f.or a misdemeanor citation shall be $10. b. The prosecution fee for a violation of title 28, chapter 4, Arizona Revised Statutes, shall be $35. l":u r~ :::~: .1 ~:~1: {00001889.DOC /4} - 1 - 3/23/20069:46 AM FJC J .. c. ^ prosecution fee of a higher or 1000ver amount may be imposed as set forth in a written plea agreement and based upon the actual cost of prosecution services and the indigent status of the defendant. 3. An administrative warrant fee in the amount of $20 shall be imposed to cover the Marana town court's costs for processing warrants when a Ma- rana town court magistrate issues a warrant for failure to comply with a court order, failure to pay a fine, failure to pay restitution or failure to ap- pear. 4. The Marana town court shall impose a court improvement fee in the amount of $5 $20 per citation which shall be applied by the court on all fines, sanc- tions, penalties and assessments imposed by the court with the exception of parking violations. 6. 1\ suspension roo in the amount of $16 shall be imposed for each suspen sion of a person's driver's license issued by the Marana town court. Any person who has had a suspension issued by the court for failure to appear in a civil traffic violation case or for failure to satisfy in full a ci'JiI sanction imposed in a civil traffic violation case shall be required to pay this fee to the court for the cost of issuing and servicing the suspension. This fee shall be applied to each suspension issued. ~6. A jury cancellation fee shall be imposed on aAY party who requests a jury trial and then decides. \I.'ithin the Marana town court, if within five days be:. fore ef.-the trial and atter the court has arranged for the paneling of a juryJQ be imoaneled. not to oroceed with the iurv trial, the party decides to not procoed with the jury trial. The amount of the jury cancellation fee shall eaual be-the actual costs incurred to cancel the iurv in connection with the canceled paneling which at present time varies (tvoicallv between $100 tQ aAG-$4001. 7. I\n abstract fee of $10 shall be assessed upon each person requesting a court abstract for the purpose of reinstating a driver's license whether the driver's license was suspended as a result of a civil or criminal violation. 6. Each defendant allowed to comolete communitv service in lieu of oavina anv fine. fee or surcharae shall be charaed a fee of $5 to cover Dart of the cost of monitorina his or her oroaress on comoletina the communitv ser- vice. 7. A $40 fee for service of orocess on an order of harassment. subiect to the limitations set forth in A.R.S. & 12-1809(0). 8. In addition to any other remedy allowed by law, the town attorney is author- ized to institute any appropriate action for recovery of any and all monies owed or due to the Marana town court including, but not limited to, restitu- tion, fees, sanctions, surcharges, assessments, penalties, bonds, costs, and fees. A defendant who defaults in his or her obligation for the payment of monies owed or due to the court is liable for all costs of collection includ- ing attorney fees and costs, and fees and charges assessed by a collection agency licensed pursuant to title 32, chapter 9, Arizona Revised Statutes, that is engaged to collect and enforce that obligation. C. The magistrate shall retain the power to waive all or any part of fee assess- ments if any of the following conditions apply: 1. The defendant is found by the Marana town court to be indigent; 2. The fee imposed upon a defendant causes a hardship on the defendant or the defendant's immediate family; or {00001889.DOC/4} - 2 - 3/23/20069:46AMFJC (~ ~:;Jj :3 ",] it::::: l\.,p~ 3. In the opinion of the magistrate the waiver would be in the interest of jus- tice. D. There is hereby established a court improvement fund which shall be used exclusively to enhance the technological, operational and security capabilities of the Marana town court. The court improvement fund shall be established as a designated fund account with the town treasurer. The court shall collect the court improvement fees as defined in this section and deposit them in the court improvement fund account. Half of the court imDrovement fund shall be available for use as determined bv the court for trainina. additional contract work. temDorarv court helD. and other similar Durooses. as documented in a manner reauested bv the town manaaer. The town treasurer shall invest the monies in the fund in the same manner as town funds. Interest earned on fund monies shall be deposited in the fund. SECTION 2. IT IS FURTHER ORDAINED that, since it is necessary for the preserva- tion of the peace, health and safety of the Town of Marana that this ordinance become immedi- ately effective, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, and this ordinance shall be effective immediately upon its passage and adoption. SECTION 3. Anything in Section 2 of this Ordinance notwithstanding, fees revised by this ordinance that are printed in the "Traffic Violations Information Envelope" provided to de- fendants upon receipt of a citation are effective for citations accompanied by the reprinted "Traf- fic Violations Information Envelope" containing the revised fees. PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF MARAN A, ARIZONA, this 4th day of April, 2006. %l~ "'\\"'''''''/~ ~ _, OF ~ ~. ~ '-:""""""/JJ ~ S:~~.. ~ ~ S /2~ CORPOIl.4Tf \ ~ _ S c;x:)O == _ - -SEAL- - -- ~ S .... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -<1 ~II"U"\\~ ~ ~/"f::/IZ. '\g....~ .11111'\\. ,') n~ ,~::~ ~:J l {OOOOI889.DOC / 4} - 3 - 3/23/20069:46 AM FJC