I would like to hear from anyone involved in the collection of pretrial intervention program fees for prosecutors' offices pursuant to Art. 102.0121 CCP. Specifically, how these fees are being collected, and how your county treasurer/auditor is using these fees to "administer the pretrial intervention program." Thanks.

Pre-trial intervention is a bad idea. Just don't do it.

Well, that's one person's opinion. I'd say our membership is split about in half on the issue, for what that's worth. And of those that do run such programs, some use the probation department, while others run them internally (for which there is no fee that can be collected).

If you do decide to go forward and want advice on how to administer the program using the new fees that were authorized in 2007, contact Cameron County Attorney Armando Villalobos (ofc: 956-544-0849) -- he was the driving force behind the change in law.

One last reminder: the statute specifically says the fees collected are to "reimburse" you and your county for expenses incurred in administering the program. IMO, that means you need to be able to document the costs before you can start assessing fees to recover them from participants.

Reading between the lines of your post, there appears to me to be an accounting issue. Shannon has correctly identified that your auditor will probably look at the term reimburse, and expect documentation that will then prompt a transfer of funds from the account. The auditor will also look to see that the expenditure was consistent with a CCrt approved budget.

I am guessing that you are concerned with where the money is being transferred--general fund vs. a line in your budget. If that is the case, your auditor may be focusing on the phrase "reimburse a county" as designating the destination of the transfer (eg: general fund). If your county has an external audit, the external auditor will look at the special fund and expect your auditor to support his or her accounting decisions with documentation as per Generally Accepted Auditing Standards. At this point, your auditor only has the statute to document his or her accounting structure decisions.

If there is a profession that likes documentation more than attorneys, it is auditors. If you believe the statute requires a different method of fund administration than is currently used by your county, ask your auditor if providing a written legal opinion that construes the intent of the statute would resolve the point of conflict.