The Casa Grande Municipal Court will implement two new fees to help cover court operations. The new fees, which were approved by the City Council in July, include a $20 court security fee and a $50 compliance recovery fee. Both fees become effective in September.
The $20 court security fee will be added to all municipal offenders who schedule a payment plan of a fine assessed for any criminal offense, civil offense or court-authorized diversion program. Anyone who pays a fine in full will not be charged the $20 court security fee. The new court security fee will be used to fund the court’s security measures, which were added to the Court’s operational expenses in 2011 when the new courthouse opened at 375 East 9th Street. In 2012, 31,592 people were screened through the building’s security system. That number increased to 38,436 in 2013.
“Currently, court security costs are borne by taxpayers in general,” said City Judge Christopher O’Neil. “The new fee would shift security costs away from the taxpayers.”
A separate $50 compliance recovery fee will be added to offenders who fail to comply with the orders of the court without good cause. This compliance recovery fee is meant to offset the costs of enforcing the orders of the court, which include mailing, printing and paying a probation monitor.
The city judge reserves the right to waive all or a portion of the court compliance recovery fee when the judge determines that such waiver would be in the interest of justice, or after finding that the defendant has a substantial financial hardship or is indigent based on sworn testimony or affidavits of the person.
“Philosophically, these sanctions are a means to an end. Their purpose is not merely to punish people for violating court orders but rather to pursue the ultimate goal of ensuring that more people comply with court orders in the first place,” O’Neil said.
Both the court security fee and the compliance fee are meant to reduce the amount of money allocated to the court from the City’s general fund.
The Casa Grande Municipal Court is located at 373 East 9th Street. Regular staffed hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information call (520) 421-8675.