Rising Court Costs Could Save Jobs
By: Jamiese Price
Updated: April 28, 2012
In an attempt to help Alabama's judicial system raise funds a house committee has approved a bill to increase court fees.
People would pay an extra $20 in court costs if convicted of traffic violations or other crimes in circuit, district and municipal courts.
The $20 fee would bring in $23 million for a court system slated to lose 500 employees and $25 million for the 2013 fiscal year.
Circuit Court Clerk Carla Woodall said if the cuts come down she will lose her entire staff.
Woodall said, "I would lose 13 employees and I'm the only one left in the office. Every year we go through budget crisis and every year we live with the fear of it we will have a job or not"
Woodall said higher court fees could help keep her staff on board.
"It keeps being called a court cost but in essence it's a court funding bill. It's a bill to literally fund the courts. There's no way we would ask to raise the cost of court unless it was a necessity," explained Woodall.
The extra court costs would not apply to child support cases or for parking violations. The increase in court costs for small claims cases would be $15.
The bill is up for review in the House next week.
