Title
Ordinance amending Chapter 35, Section 35.23 Court Automation Fee by increasing the fee collected by the Circuit Court Clerk from $12 to $20 effective December 1, 2017.
Staff Summary
• Lake County currently assesses a court automation fee of $12 to litigants in all civil cases and to defendants in felony, traffic, misdemeanor, municipal ordinance and conservation cases upon a judgment of guilty or a grant of supervision.
• The recommendation is to increase this fee to $20.
• The maximum fee allowed by State Statute, 705 Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) 105/27.3a, is $25.
• Increasing the fee will assist in paying for current and future expenses related to the establishment and/or maintenance of automated record keeping systems in the Circuit Courts and the Circuit Clerk’s Office. The fee increase is anticipated to generate an additional $660,000 annually.
• The Chief Judge and the Circuit Court Clerk jointly oversee the Court Automation Fund.
Body
ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, Lake County currently assesses a court automation fee of $12 to litigants in all civil cases and to defendants in felony, traffic, misdemeanor, municipal ordinance and conservation cases upon a judgment of guilty or a grant of supervision as allowed by Illinois statute (705 ILCS 105/27.3a); and
WHEREAS, 705 ILCS 105/27.3a, allows county boards to authorize the Circuit Court Clerk to charge a court automation fee of up to $25; and
WHEREAS, court staff has determined that an $8 increase in the court automation fee is appropriate to offset ongoing and future expenses in the court automation fund; and
WHEREAS, the Chief Judge and the Circuit Court Clerk, who jointly oversee the court automation fund, have no objections to the proposed fee increase; and
WHEREAS, it is therefore recommended that the court automation fee of $12 be increased to $20 effective December 1, 2017.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED, by this County Board of Lake County, Illinois, that the court automation fee collected by the Circuit Court Clerk’s Office be increased from $12 to $20, effective December 1, 2017.
DATED, at Waukegan, Lake County, Illinois, on this 14th day of November, 2017.