AGO 1949-51 No. 168.

Case DateNovember 25, 1949
CourtWashington
Washington Attorney General Opinions 1949. AGO 1949-51 No. 168. November 25, 1949[Orig. Op. Page 1]PRIVATEFISHERIES CODE - DISPOSITION OF FINES.1. When a justice of the peace assesses the minimum fine and suspends a portion, the county should retain one half of the fine actually collected and remit one half to the state treasury.2. The court has authority to suspend any portion of the minimum fine.3. The court may set bail at less than the minimum fined.4. Court costs may not be extracted from the minimum fine when no separate assessment has been made.5. The county has no right to take anything as costs from money received by them as bail forfeiture.Honorable Alvin Anderson Director of Fisheries 1308 Smith Tower Seattle 4, WashingtonCite as: AGO 1949-51 No. 168Attention: Mr. E. M. Benn, Chief Inspector Dear Sir: We have your letter of November 1, 1949, in which you ask certain questions pertaining to sections 25 and 75, chapter 112, Laws of 1949. We will now answer the questions submitted. ANALYSIS 1. When a justice of the peace assesses the minimum fine of $25.00, suspending a portion thereof, should the county retain one half of the fine actually collected and remit one half of the portion collected to the general fund? Section 25, supra, first contains a general provision for the disposition of certain moneys and then a proviso reading: [Orig. Op. Page 2] "* * * Provided, That fifty per cent (50%) of all money received as fines together with all of the costs shall be retained by the county in which the fine was collected. * * *" The proviso of section 25, supra, reads, "50 per cent (50%) of all money received as fines" shall be retained by the county. We are unable to see how more appropriate words could have been selected to express the thought that the county should retain one half of all money collected as fines, no more, no less. For instance, if a defendant were fined $25.00 and $15.00 of such fine was suspended, only $10.00 would be actually paid as a fine. There would therefore be only $10.00 received by the county treasury to which the county can apply the 50% formula. In such a case the county should retain $5.00 and remit $5.00 to the treasury. Therefore the answer to your first question is, "yes." 2. Has the court any authority to suspend any portion of the minimum fine? All the violations of chapter...

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