It is my understanding that there is a case out there requiring that the clerk make a copy of the bill of costs available to defendants. This is becoming a royal headache.

Is there any reason that a defendant cannot waive this right along with others in a plea?

Lisa: I am not sure what case you are referring to. Possibly you are dealing with holdings in such cases as Solomon, No. 04-12-00239-CR. But, those concern the sufficiency of the evidence upon appeal, not some requirement that a bill of costs be made and delivered to a defendant. Anyway, in my opinion the Solomon line of cases are all dead wrong. See Peterson Brief. You have to understand what "right" is being waived, before worrying about the efficiency of a waiver.

This is something district and county clerks are being told in their training. As you no doubt are aware, those who train them know more that the locals!! Anyway, all of a sudden, every clerk I can find has a printed bill of costs for all criminal cases, requires that it be signed by the defendant and a copy given to him / her.

Any update on this issue?
The County Clerk is now wanting us to have the Defendant sign the Bill of Costs at time of judgment i.e. we fill in the blanks etc. and do all the leg work.

I have not been able to find any authority mandating.....any help?

I think this is where a lot of this is coming from, along with their training:

Advice for Clerks on Fees

We have used a "check box" fee sheet for a number of years but recently updated it to have signature lines. since we just automated our forms, we simply stuck it in the packet.

We build in Word using a table that allows it to the math for us depending on what fee we check off.