§ 2-153. Municipal court collection fees.
(a)
The fee shall be in the amount of thirty (30) percent.
(b)
The fee shall be assessed and collected from the defendant, on any debt or accounts receivable such as fines, fees, restitution, and other debts or costs, other than forfeited bonds, which is more than sixty (60) days past due and has been referred to an private attorney or an public or private vendor for collection, in the municipal court as a cost of court.
(c)
The fee shall be collected from defendants for any debt or accounts receivable such as fines, fees, restitution, and other debts or costs, other than forfeited bonds, which is more than sixty (60) days past due and has been referred to a private attorney or a public or private vendor for collection, upon passage of Ordinance No. 2115.
(d)
A defendant is not liable for the collection fees authorized under subsection (b), if the municipal court judge has determined that the defendant is indigent, or has insufficient resources or income, or is otherwise unable to pay all or part of the underlying fine or costs.
(e)
The private attorney or public or private vendor for collection and/or the municipal court clerk are hereby authorized and required to collect the fee. If the municipal court clerk collects the fee, the clerk is authorized and required to pay the same to the private attorney or public or private vendor contracted with the city to collect the fee.
(f)
If a defendant is arrested and serves jail time to pay off his debts, the fee assessment shall be reversed, and no monies will be remitted to the private attorney or public or private vendor contracted with the city to collect the fee.
(g)
If a private attorney or public or private vendor collects from a person owing costs ordered paid by the court an amount that is less than the total costs owed by the person, including collection costs permitted under the attorney's or vendor's contract with the city council, the amount of costs collected otherwise required to be sent to the state comptroller and the amount permitted to be retained by the city shall be reduced by an equal percentage in order to fully compensate the attorney or vendor, not to exceed the thirty (30) percent allowable collection costs in the attorney's or vendor's contract with the city.
(Ord. No. 2115, § 1, 11-19-01)