A joint finance and safety committee meeting was held Tuesday, just before the regularly scheduled Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, with court costs and the minimum age for judges on the agenda for discussion.
“Court costs have not been revised since 2010,” City Administrator Nolan Ming said. “As such, we’re proposing updates based on the current TCA laws and MTAS guidance.”
Court costs are presently $100 per court case, but would be bumped up to $125 with the proposed change. Per his recommendation, the amendments would result in an increase of $38.75, or 39%, to the city per court case, which is less than $2 per year increase since 2010. In cases where the city has been paying $13.75 in court costs, the fee would be passed onto the citizen, rendering the cost neutral.
“A recent bill that was passed increased one of these fees from $1 to $2 and was passed in the last session and impacts two sections of this ordinance,” Ming explained, going on to indicate the number of tickets given in January was 117 and $235 was charged in court costs. This same case load would be $468 under the revised fee schedule.
According to Ming, a large part of court costs are contributed by the Courtware ticket processing system used by the city. It previously charged $2 per ticket, but has doubled its rate to be $4 per ticket.
City Accountant Samantha Moore explained the city has been paying a $13 Litigation Tax which goes directly to the state.
“Most cities pass that onto those who are in court. The city has been paying that $13, it’s been coming off what we receive for court costs. So, we’ve been absorbing those to align with MTAS recommendations,,” Moore explained. “All other cities do pass that onto the person paying that fee instead of the city paying that for them.”
A fee of $20 would be charged for all cases settled ahead of court proceedings.
In addition to the raising court costs, Ming also recommended examining the minimum age for city judges.
Ming reasoned law degrees are not typically obtainable until ages 25 to 26, making 30 a better-suited minimum age for prospective judges. In existing bylaws, the minimum age of a city judge is set as 21.
Vice Mayor Steve Harvey motioned to accept the revised ordinance and Alderman Sally Brock seconded. All members of the safety committee approved the request and the ordinance now will head to the full Board of Mayor and Aldermen for final adoption, which requires two successful reads.
