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Vol. 13, No. 6 June 2017
Statutory
Fees Going Up August 9
The legislature passed a budget during this year’s
legislative session allowing Arizona’s Supreme Court to increase the base fees
in A.R.S. § 12-284. The Supreme Court has increased the fees by 2%, effective
on the legislation’s general effective date, Wednesday, August 9, 2017. The
increased portion of the fees will be deposited in a courthouse security fund
that the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) will distribute as needed.
Because a 2% increase does not always result in round numbers, the AOC provided
Arizona’s Superior Court Clerks with a list of the new base fee amounts. In
addition to the base fee, each county is statutorily authorized to approve
additional fees. No new local fees have been approved at this time, limiting
the increase in the Superior Court in Maricopa County to only the statutory
base fees. Before the fee change, the Clerk’s office will post the current fees
and the fees effective August 9 on its website at http://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/fees.asp.
Mark your calendars and spread the word now to avoid fee-based filing problems
and delays on and after August 9, 2017. This is particularly important for
filings submitted through the mail or at external filing depository boxes around
the effective date.
Victim-Locate
Success
People move – that’s
not new. But people moving and not updating their address with the Clerk’s
office will always be a challenge in the justice system. One of the Clerk’s mandates
is distributing restitution to crime victims. The Clerk’s most recent
victim-locate project began in March of this year. In that short time, the
office has released nearly $150,000 to victims who could not be located before.
One victim received $6,500 that was owed from a 1992 case and another received
more than $11,000 from a 1994 case. Clerk staff use multiple sources and
contacts for finding victims whose information was either missing or outdated.
The goal is getting as much restitution into the hands of victims as possible.
If you are a victim due restitution through the superior court in Maricopa
County or if you know someone who is, make sure the individual’s address information
is up-to-date with the Clerk’s office. Contact the Clerk’s Criminal Financial
Obligations Unit by email at CFOResponse@mail.maricopa.gov.
For more information, see the Clerk’s website at http://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/restitution.asp.
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