Senate Bill No. 471
(By Senator Kessler)
____________
[Introduced February 4, 2010; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §59-1-11 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to increasing the amount county
clerks may charge for copies from $.50 per page to $1.00 per
page.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §59-1-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. FEES AND ALLOWANCES.
§59-1-11. Fees to be charged by clerk of circuit court.
(a) The clerk of a circuit court shall charge and collect for
services rendered by the clerk the following fees which shall be
paid in advance by the parties for whom services are to be
rendered:
(1) For instituting any civil action under the Rules of Civil
Procedure, any statutory summary proceeding, any extraordinary remedy, the docketing of civil appeals or any other action, cause,
suit or proceeding, $145, of which $30 of that amount shall be
deposited in the Courthouse Facilities Improvement Fund created by
section six, article twenty-six, chapter twenty-nine of this code
and $10 shall be deposited in the special revenue account created
in section six hundred three, article twenty-six, chapter forty-
eight of this code to provide legal services for domestic violence
victims;
(2) For instituting an action for medical professional
liability, $260, of which $10 of that amount shall be deposited in
the Courthouse Facilities Improvement Fund created by section six,
article twenty-six, chapter twenty-nine of this code;
(3) Beginning on and after July 1, 1999, for instituting an
action for divorce, separate maintenance or annulment, $135;
(4) For petitioning for the modification of an order involving
child custody, child visitation, child support or spousal support,
$85; and
(5) For petitioning for an expedited modification of a child
support order, $35.
(b) In addition to the foregoing fees, the following fees
shall likewise be charged and collected:
(1) For preparing an abstract of judgment, $5;
(2) For any transcript, copy or paper made by the clerk for
use in any other court or otherwise to go out of the office, for
each page,
fifty cents $1;
(3) For issuing a suggestion and serving notice to the debtor
by certified mail, $25;
(4) For issuing an execution, $25;
(5) For issuing or renewing a suggestee execution and serving
notice to the debtor by certified mail, $25;
(6) For vacation or modification of a suggestee execution, $1;
(7) For docketing and issuing an execution on a transcript of
judgment from magistrate court, $3;
(8) For arranging the papers in a certified question, writ of
error, appeal or removal to any other court, $10, of which $5 of
that amount shall be deposited in the Courthouse Facilities
Improvement Fund created by section six, article twenty-six,
chapter twenty-nine of this code;
(9) For postage and express and for sending or receiving
decrees, orders or records, by mail or express, three times the
amount of the postage or express charges;
(10) For each subpoena, on the part of either plaintiff or
defendant, to be paid by the party requesting the same, fifty
cents;
(11) For additional service (plaintiff or appellant) where any
case remains on the docket longer than three years, for each
additional year or part year, $20; and
(12) For administering funds deposited into a federally
insured interest-bearing account or interest-bearing instrument
pursuant to a court order, $50, to be collected from the party making the deposit. A fee collected pursuant to this subdivision
shall be paid into the general county fund.
(c) The clerk shall tax the following fees for services in any
criminal case against any defendant convicted in such court:
(1) In the case of any misdemeanor, $85; and
(2) In the case of any felony, $105, of which $10 of that
amount shall be deposited in the Courthouse Facilities Improvement
Fund created by section six, article twenty-six, chapter twenty-
nine of this code.
(d) The clerk of a circuit court shall charge and collect a
fee of $25 per bond for services rendered by the clerk for
processing of criminal bonds and the fee shall be paid at the time
of issuance by the person or entity set forth below:
(1) For cash bonds, the fee shall be paid by the person
tendering cash as bond;
(2) For recognizance bonds secured by real estate, the fee
shall be paid by the owner of the real estate serving as surety;
(3) For recognizance bonds secured by a surety company, the
fee shall be paid by the surety company;
(4) For ten-percent recognizance bonds with surety, the fee
shall be paid by the person serving as surety; and
(5) For ten-percent recognizance bonds without surety, the fee
shall be paid by the person tendering ten percent of the bail
amount.
In instances in which the total of the bond is posted by more than one bond instrument, the above fee shall be collected at the
time of issuance of each bond instrument processed by the clerk and
all fees collected pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited
in the Courthouse Facilities Improvement Fund created by section
six, article twenty-six, chapter twenty-nine of this code. Nothing
in this subsection may be construed as authorizing the clerk to
collect the above fee from any person for the processing of a
personal recognizance bond.
(e) The clerk of a circuit court shall charge and collect a
fee of $10 for services rendered by the clerk for processing of
bailpiece and the fee shall be paid by the surety at the time of
issuance. All fees collected pursuant to this subsection shall be
deposited in the Courthouse Facilities Improvement Fund created by
section six, article twenty-six, chapter twenty-nine of this code.
(f) No clerk shall be required to handle or accept for
disbursement any fees, cost or amounts of any other officer or
party not payable into the county treasury except on written order
of the court or in compliance with the provisions of law governing
such fees, costs or accounts.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the amount
county clerks may charge for copies from $.50 per page to $1.00 per
page.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.