Monday, April 07, 2014
S.C. CHIEF JUSTICE ADDRESSES CASE BACKLOGS, NEW COURT FEE
The chief justice seeks a total budget of
$69.3 million for the court system for fiscal year 2014, which starts July 1,
the same amount in this fiscal year’s “actual” budget, according to Office of
State Budget (OSB) records.
Those documents show that the Judicial
Department’s budget is comprised of about $45 million in general funds, $20.5
million in “other” funds, and $3.8 million in federal funds.
A chart that Toal provided the subcommittee
shows a growing and heavy reliance on court fines and fees, which make up other
funds. Those collections climbed from $2.8 million in fiscal 2002 to $18.7
million in fiscal 2010.
Last fiscal year, the department collected
nearly $23.4 million in other funds, OSB records show.
Toal acknowledged that fees and fines are a
significant revenue generator.
“The court system top to bottom generates a
lot more than it takes to run them. This is a revenue source for the state, big
time,” she said.
The chief justice, however, made no mention
of lowering or eliminating any court fees.
The state court system relies on counties
and municipalities to collect the system’s share of fee and fine money, and
send it to the (S.C.) Treasurer’s Office, Toal said, adding there is a problem
with some local jurisdictions retaining the court system’s portion.
Here is a list
of municipalities that have failed for at least one year to provide the state
with required audits of fee and fine money.
Online Source: http://thenerve.org/news/2013/02/14/judicial-department/
