AGO 1993-041.

• Case Date: November 16, 1993
• Court: Ohio

Ohio Attorney General Opinions 1993. AGO 1993-041. November 16, 1993OPINION NO. 1993-041The Honorable William R. Swigart Fulton County Prosecuting Attorney 123 Courthouse Plaza Wauseon, Ohio 43567 Dear Prosecutor Swigart: You have requested an opinion regarding the assessment of fees by a county court. Specifically, you have asked:

Pursuant to O.R.C. §1907.261(B)(1), may a county court include in its schedule of fees and costs under O.R.C. §1907.24 an additional fee not to exceed $10.00 on the filing of each traffic complaint to raise additional funds to procure and maintain computer systems for the office of the Clerk of the County Court?

Information provided in your letter of request states that the Ohio Uniform Traffic Ticket serves as the complaint in the prosecution of traffic offenses in the county court. Traf. R. 3. This opinion, accordingly, addresses the imposition of the additional fee authorized by R.C. 1907.261(B)(1) in proceedings that are commenced in a county court by the filing of a completed Ohio Uniform Traffic Ticket.

R.C. 1907.261

R.C. 1907.261(B)(1) authorizes the funding of the computerization of county courts:

A county court may determine that, for the efficient operation of the court, additional funds are required to computerize the office of the clerk of the court and, upon that determination, may include in its schedule of fees and costs under section 1907.24 of the Revised Code an additional fee not to exceed ten dollars on the filing of each cause of action or appeal, on the filing, docketing, and endorsing of each certificate of judgment, or on the docketing and indexing of each aid in execution or petition to vacate, revive, or modify a judgment that is equivalent to one described in division (A), (P), (Q), (T), or (U) of section 2303.20 of the Revised Code. (Emphasis added.)

R.C. 1907.261(B)(1) explicitly empowers a county court to include in its schedule of fees and costs an additional fee not to exceed ten dollars on the filing of each cause of action that is equivalent to one described in R.C. 2303.20(A), (P), (Q), (T), or (U). Thus, if the filing of an Ohio Uniform Traffic Ticket with a county court constitutes the filing of a cause of action that is equivalent to one described in R.C. 2303.20(A), (P), (Q), (T), or (U), a county court may include in its schedule of...