SENATE BILL REPORT

                  SHB 1692

              As Reported By Senate Committee On:

                 Law & Justice, March 28, 1995

Title:  An act relating to the clarification of clerks' fees.

Brief Description:  Clarifying clerks' fees.

Sponsors:  House Committee on Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Representatives Padden, Costa, Scott and Appelwick).

Brief History:

Committee Activity:  Law & Justice:  3/23/95, 3/28/95 [DPA].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LAW & JUSTICE

Majority Report:  Do pass as amended.

  Signed by Senators Smith, Chair; C. Anderson, Vice Chair; Hargrove, Haugen, Johnson, Long, McCaslin, Roach and Schow.

Staff:  Dick Armstrong (786-7460)

Background:  Courts are authorized by statute to collect fees for the use of the court system.  The amount of the fee imposed varies with the type of action the party brings or the type of relief or information the party is seeking.

During 1994, representatives of the county clerks, the Office of the Administrator for the Courts, and the State Auditor met to clarify the statutes in order to provide consistent handling of fees statewide and to make court accounts more easily audited.  It was their conclusion that court fees should be placed in a single chapter of the RCW and organized in a manner that indicates how such fees are to be distributed to different governmental accounts.

Summary of Amended Bill:  Provisions of the code concerning fees collected by the clerk of the superior court are restructured under the following format:  (1) a section is created which specifies the fees that are divided between the county, the state public safety and education fund, and the county or regional law library fund; (2) a new section is created specifying the fees that are divided between the county and the state public safety and education account; (3) a new section is created specifying the fees that are divided between the county and the county or regional law library fund; and (4) a new section is created specifying which fees the county retains in whole.

A new section is created specifying that fees collected for appellate review and for all copies and reports produced by the Office of the Administrator for the Courts must be transmitted to the appropriate state court.

Amended Bill Compared to Substitute Bill:  The $20 filing fee for a domestic violence protection order is deleted.  Also deleted is a provision which would have extended the period for collecting legal financial provisions for an additional ten-year period.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  The bill is revenue neutral.  The bill helps to clarify how fees are to be divided among various governmental accounts.  The State Auditor, the court clerks and the Administrator for the Courts are supportive of the bill.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  PRO:  Siri Woods, Chelan County Clerks; Debbie Wilke, WA Assn. of County Officials; Sharon Case, WA State Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Dave Savage, DOC.