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No significant fiscal implication to the State or units of local government is anticipated.
SB 740 would amend the chapter “Costs Paid by the Defendant” within the Code of Criminal Procedure. This bill would prohibit the State from assessing duplicative court fees for a single criminal action in which a defendant was convicted for two or more offenses or multiple counts of the same offense. However, the court fee assessed would be determined based on the fee for the highest category of offense.
This bill would preserve the individual liberty of defendants by prohibiting the government from treating the judicial system as a profit center by charging duplicative court costs and fees to a defendant. In the private sector, it would be unacceptable for a business to charge duplicative fees and customers would choose look for competitors that offered more amenable terms. No such choice exists in the criminal justice system. This bill would mandate that the government not over charge defendants by using multiple fees for the same court visit.
We support this bill for preserving individual liberty and limited government.
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