Magistrate Court of Clinch County; assessment and collection of a technology fee; authorize

Clinch County can add court technology fees

The law lets Clinch County approve a Magistrate Court technology fee by resolution, capped at $5. The county can change the amount through later resolutions. The fee covers each civil action or estate filed, each conviction, and a surcharge on each fine assessed. It also covers affidavit filings, except affidavits of indigency. Each party can be charged only once within a single action or proceeding. The money is limited to court technology: computers, software, related equipment, leases, maintenance, installation, and digitizing records for public access. Covered equipment includes imaging, scanning, fax, communications, projection, and printing tools. The clerk must send collections to the county monthly, and the county must keep them in a separate account. When the probate and magistrate judges are consolidated, both courts' technology fees can share an account restricted to these uses. The county must audit the account annually.