My district judges are adding a $2.00 transaction fee to every payment made by probationers to the probation department as a condition of their probation as a fund raising device. I have reviewed my copy of the Perfect Plea and the law and do not see any authority for such a payment. My county judge is being asked to add the same condition of probation to his misdemeanor cases and I want to be able to advise him as to whether this requirement will pass muster. Generally, if there is no specific statutory authorizaton for a payment, then it is invalid. Your thoughts on the validity of this $2.00 fee?

I think you are right on track - there is NO statutory authority that I am aware of that would make imposition of the fee acceptable. Now, he could set all pleas for the last day of the month (or close to the end of the month), then impose the regular monthly supervision fee (capped at $60.00, I think), for that month, even though the community supervision office would have very little time on the particular case that month. It looks to me like it is a very bad idea, despite the reasonable goal. What do you think of the court imposing a fee for transfer of a case to another jurisdiction?

Check out Government Code Sec. 103.021 (24) or (25). You will find the authority here, or at least that is what the agencies are relying on.

Thank you, Gary.

The actual authority is CCP Art. 102.072, FWIW. The Govt Code does not actually authorize any of the criminal fees listed in that section, it merely catalogues them. But it is a great reference source anytime you have a question about fees!

As discussed in The Perfect Plea, the Legislature has given judges broad discretion in setting reasonable conditions of supervision. However, when it comes to financial conditions, the Legislature (and the cases interpreting the Legislature's work) have consistently indicated that judges do NOT have inherent authority to impose any financial condition or fee that they think is appropriate. Rather, such conditions are reasonable only if supported by express statutory authority.

Ignoring that limitation has generally resulted in a lawsuit against the county for recovery of those payments. Sometimes those lawsuits have taken the form of a class action. Can you say, "Ouch"?