No. CS/HB 759
Filed under Legal.
Court Fees; Increases service charges clerk of circuit court charges for certain services rendered by clerk's office; increases certain filing fees & service charges that may be charged by clerk in probate matters; increases certain filing fees & service charges in trial & appellate proceedings; increases certain filing fees & service charges for civil actions, suits, or proceedings in county court; revises distribution formula for additional filing fees; increases service charge clerk is entitled to for disbursement of surplus proceeds for certain judicial sales procedures; increases filing fee for additional timeshare interests joining consolidated timeshare foreclosure action; increases fee clerk of circuit court may charge for auditing of return of ward's estate; requires Office of Economic & Demographic Research to prepare certain report; requires such report to be submitted to Legislature.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDCircuit court filing fees for most civil cases rise from $395 to $460. Real property and foreclosure claims under $50,000 increase from $395 to $470. Probate formal administration fees also jump to $470.
County court claims over $15,000 now carry a $460 maximum filing fee. Clerk service charges, such as sealing a court file, increase from $42 to $50. These changes apply to all new filings after the effective date.
The bill repeals the requirement for clerks to remit monthly fee collections exceeding one-twelfth of their budget to the state trust fund. This allows local clerks to retain more collected revenue for their own operations.
The Office of Economic and Demographic Research must recommend fee increases every three years based on the Consumer Price Index. This creates a recurring mechanism for automatic cost growth without new legislative action.
AIIncreases the base filing fee for most civil actions in circuit court from $395 to $460, and for specific statutory categories from $295 to $345.
AIRaises the graduated filing fees for real property and mortgage foreclosure actions, increasing the base fee for claims under $50,000 from $395 to $470.
AIIncreases the filing fee for formal administration, guardianship, and related proceedings from $395 to $470.
AIRequires the Office of Economic and Demographic Research to recommend fee increases every three years based on the Consumer Price Index, creating a recurring mechanism for automatic cost growth.
AIRaises the maximum filing fee for county court claims over $15,000 from $395 to $460.
AIIncreases various clerk service charges, including the fee for sealing a court file or expunging a record from $42 to $50.
AIRepeals the requirement for clerks to submit monthly fee collections exceeding one-twelfth of their budget to the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund.
AIRequires the Office of Economic and Demographic Research to prepare a report every three years recommending fee increases based on the Consumer Price Index.