Broken Arrow City Council
Meeting of: 06-04-2018
Title:
title
Consideration, discussion, and possible preview of an ordinance amending Chapter 14, Municipal Court, Article 1, In General, Section 14-32, by adding a breakdown of court costs collected, along with a provision authorizing the clerk of the municipal court to charge and collect a technology and administrative fee; providing for severability; repealing all ordinances to the contrary; and declaring an emergency
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Background:
The City of Broken Arrow may collect both a fine and court costs from those convicted of violating a City ordinance in Municipal Court. Ordinance 14-32 does not currently breakdown the court costs associated with a conviction of a charge. The proposed ordinance amends 14-32 to list court costs that are appropriated along with the Oklahoma Statutory reference.
In addition, in 2009, Title 11 O.S. § 27-126, the Oklahoma statute regarding fees and costs that may be imposed by a municipal court (not of record), was amended to permit the governing body of a municipality to authorize the clerk of a municipal court to charge and collect “court costs and fees”. The amendment limits court costs to thirty dollars ($30.00). Under this statute, the City of Broken Arrow may collect a technology and administration fee to defray some of the technology and administrative costs associated with administration of the criminal justice system and the costs of prosecution. The Legal Department recommends the City collect a ten dollar ($10.00) technology and administrative fee for every citation prosecuted in Municipal Court. This fee does not apply to citations for parking or charges that are voided, declined for prosecution or dismissed without costs. The technology and administration costs currently incurred by the City’s Municipal Court include the following:
1. Acquisition and maintenance of desktop and laptop computers.
2. Acquisition and maintenance of video arraignment equipment.
3. Acquisition, maintenance, and licensing of handheld computers and software used for parking citations.
4. Acquisition, maintenance, and licensing of court related software.
5. Cost of court personnel, such as, court clerks, prosecutors and judges.
The police and legal department also incur technology costs related to administration of the criminal justice system and the costs of prosecution.
The revised ordinance would help defray some of the technology and administrative costs set forth above.
Cost: $0
Funding Source: None
Requested By: Trevor Dennis, Acting City Attorney
Approved By: Michael L. Spurgeon, City Manager
Attachments: Preview Ordinance No.
Recommendation:
recommend
Preview the Ordinance and set for adoption.
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