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Vol. 72, No. 7, July 1999 |
Legislative Watch
Court Fee Increases -
The Cost of Justice
While intended to help fund state government - though
not necessarily the court system itself - court fee increases
may erect barriers for people who need the courts but cannot
afford the fees.
By Jenny Boese
What do campaign finance reform, the circuit
court automation program (CCAP), and a host of other legislative
initiatives all have in common?
Each is a legislative attempt that has used or proposes to
use court fee increases as funding sources for the operations
of the state government - though not necessarily for the
court system itself. Each also systematically pushes access to
the court system further out of the public's reach.
Every two years the Wisconsin Legislature is charged with
the responsibility of establishing funding for state government,
including the judicial branch. Legislators are faced with the
dilemma of finding enough revenue from the state income, corporate,
and sales taxes to fund state government without, they hope,
making the unpalatable decision to raise those taxes. To avoid
doing so, lawmakers turn to various user fees to balance the
books. It is within this framework that civil filing fee and
court fee increases become deceptively alluring for legislators.
Current Legislative Proposals: Court Fee Increases
Although the 1999-2000 legislative session began in January,
there already have been attempts to increase fees assessed in
civil court. The first attempt, though so far unsuccessful, came
under Assembly
Bill 234, public campaign financing grants for Wisconsin
Supreme Court candidates.
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Fee increases cannot continue to be viewed outside the context
of the court system and the citizens they impact. |
AB 234 would have used a $1 increase in the civil filing fee
to fund public financed campaign grants for Wisconsin Supreme
Court candidates; the underlying rationale being that legislators
support campaign finance reform but maybe not quite enough to
fully fund it. So they tack on a user fee and pass that cost
onto a small segment of the population. Even though the initial
attempt to increase the civil filing fee in AB 234 was unsuccessful,
legislators continue to look at it and other court fee increases
to fund this campaign finance reform idea.
Last month it happened again when a $2 increase in another
court fee - the Justice Information System Fee - gained
preliminary approval during deliberations on the biennial state
budget bill (Assembly
Bill 133). In this instance, rather than provide general
tax revenue or use other options to fund CCAP, the computer system
for uniform case management of the circuit courts, partial funding
was found by using the $2 increase, again passing on some of
the costs to the public.
A Historical Perspective: Two Case Studies
The aforementioned legislative attempts to increase the civil
filing fee and other court fees are just two examples in a long
litany of fee increases over the years. A historical look at
several of those fees provides an even broader perspective on
the subject. (Please see the accompanying
chart.)
Circuit Court Support Fee (Wis. Stat. §
814.634). In the early 1990s, the state recognized the
need to provide partial funding relief to the counties for the
costs of operating the circuit courts, because those courts are
not fully funded by the state. To do so, the Legislature authorized
creation of the Circuit Court Support Grant under the 1993 state
budget bill (Act 16). In yet another use of cost shifting, Act
16 also included a new $20 Circuit Court Support Fee to help
the state offset some of the costs that it would incur due to
the changes in Act 16.
Once created, the Legislature quickly increased the fee again.
In 1995 the $20 fee was doubled to $40 and then trifurcated into
a $30 fee for small claims and a $100 fee for large claims, with
the $40 fee assessed on forfeiture judgments or other civil court
filings (1995 Wis. Act 27). The fee continues to be assessed
on most civil court filings and forfeiture judgments.
Justice Information System Fee (Wis. Stat. §
814.635). When the supreme court requested money to initiate
CCAP, the Legislature created yet another fee to partially pay
for the program - the Court Automation Fee. It began under
1987 Wis. Act 27 with a small assessment on all forfeiture judgments
and most civil actions. Within a few short years the fee was
raised to $3 (1991 Wis. Act 39).
Although the Court Automation Fee underwent a name change
in 1995 to become the Justice Information System Fee, it was
again a legislative target for increases when it was raised to
$5 (1995 Wis. Act 27). In 1997 the fee was increased once more
to $7 (1997 Wis. Act 27). Finally, as already mentioned, there
is another $2 increase in the fee, raising it to $9 (subject
to final legislative/governor approval). Today, the fee continues
to be assessed on all forfeiture judgments and most civil filings.
 Jenny Boese
is a State Bar government relations coordinator. For more information,
she can be reached at (800) 444-9404, ext. 6045. |
The Cost of Justice
User fees are not new to the court system. As evidenced by
past and current legislative attempts, fee increases continue
to have an undeniable seductiveness for legislators. In its quiet
irony, the financial cost only helps to push that system further
away from the very individuals it is intended to serve.
Beyond the court fees lies an even greater cost and a greater
threat to Wisconsin citizens - access to justice. Fee increases
cannot continue to be viewed outside the context of the court
system and the citizens they impact. While court fees provide
a certain amount of revenue to state coffers, they should not
come at the expense of each individual's ability to seek
justice.
So maybe when the next $1 civil filing or other court fee
increase comes along, we'll stop a moment and ask, "Isn't
that cost just a little too high?"
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