The House Courts and Criminal Code Committee heard HB 1425, authored by Rep. McMillin and Rep. Steuerwald, on court fees. The automated record keeping fee is currently $7, but will decrease to $5 on July 1, 2015. This bill increases the automated record keeping fee collected after June 30, 2015 to $9. This bill also provides that 100% of the automated record keeping fee is distributed to the Auditor of State for deposit in the state user fee fund. This bill also increases the document storage fee from $2 to $4.
Justice David and Judge Mathias testified about the importance of funding court technology, and that $9 is a necessary fee. Henry County Judge Mary Willis testified about the importance of Odyssey. County Clerks Association testified against the bill because of the how the fee is divided between counties. The owner of Doxpop, a private sector vendor, echoed the County Clerks Association’s viewpoint. CSI, another private sector vendor, testified about working with the State to connect data and that it is important that this bill move forward. Although the need for amendment was discussed, no amendments were heard. The bill passed 10-1 and was recommitted to Ways and Means.
Read the bill at http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2015/bills/house/1425.