SB134 SUB1
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 134
(By Senator Mitchell)
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[Originating in the Committee on Judiciary;
reported February 22, 2001.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article three, chapter
fifty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact section
eleven, article one, chapter fifty-nine of said code, all
relating to payment of court costs; and providing that state
agencies are exempt from payment of certain court costs in
advance.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article three, chapter fifty of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended and reenacted; and that section eleven, article one,
chapter fifty-nine of said code be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
CHAPTER 50. MAGISTRATE COURTS.
ARTICLE 3. COSTS, FINES AND RECORDS.
§50-3-1. Costs in civil actions.
The following costs shall be charged in magistrate courts in
civil actions and shall be collected in advance,
except that costs
due from state agencies shall not be collected in advance:
(a) For filing and trying any civil action and for all
services connected therewith, but excluding services regarding
enforcement of judgment, the following amounts dependent upon the
amount of damages sought in the complaint:
Where the action is for five hundred dollars or less
$25.00
Where the action is for more than five hundred dollars but
not more than one thousand dollars
$30.00
Where the action is for more than one thousand dollars but
not more than two thousand dollars
$35.00
Where the action is for more than two thousand dollars
$45.00
Where the action seeks relief other than money damages
$25.00
On and after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-six, five dollars from each of the filing fees listed above will be deposited in the court security fund created by the
provisions of section fourteen, article three, chapter fifty-one of
this code.
(b) For each service regarding enforcement of a judgment
including execution, suggestion, garnishment and suggestee
execution
$ 5.00
(c) For each bond filed in a case
$ 1.00
(d) For taking deposition of witness for each hour or portion
thereof
$ 1.00
(e) For taking and certifying acknowledgment of a deed or
other writing or taking oath upon an affidavit
$ .50
(f) For mailing any matter required or provided by law to be
mailed by certified or registered mail with return receipt
$ 1.00
Costs incurred in a civil action shall be reflected in any
judgment rendered thereon. The provisions of section one, article
two, chapter fifty-nine of this code, relating to the payment of
costs by poor persons, shall be applicable to all costs in civil
actions.
CHAPTER 59. FEES, ALLOWANCES AND COSTS;
NEWSPAPERS; LEGAL ADVERTISEMENTS.
ARTICLE 1. FEES AND ALLOWANCES.
§59-1-11. Fees to be charged by clerk of circuit court.
(a) The clerk of a circuit court shall charge and collect for
services rendered as such clerk the following fees, and such fees
shall be paid in advance by the parties for whom such services are
to be rendered
, except that costs due from state agencies shall not
be collected in advance:
(1) For instituting any civil action under the rules of civil
procedure, any statutory summary proceeding, any extraordinary
remedy, the docketing of civil appeals, or any other action, cause,
suit or proceeding, seventy-five dollars:
Provided, That the fee
for instituting an action for divorce shall be one hundred five
dollars;
(2) Beginning on and after the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-nine, for instituting an action for divorce,
separate maintenance or annulment, one hundred twenty-five dollars;
and
(3) For petitioning for the modification of an order involving
child custody, child visitation, child support or spousal support,
seventy-five dollars.
(b) In addition to the foregoing fees, the following fees
shall likewise be charged and collected:
(1) For preparing an abstract of judgment, five dollars;
(2) For any transcript, copy or paper made by the clerk for
use in any other court or otherwise to go out of the office, for
each page, fifty cents;
(3) For action on suggestion, ten dollars;
(4) For issuing an execution, ten dollars;
(5) For issuing or renewing a suggestee execution, including
copies, postage, registered or certified mail fees and the fee
provided by section four, article five-a, chapter thirty-eight of
this code, three dollars;
(6) For vacation or modification of a suggestee execution, one
dollar;
(7) For docketing and issuing an execution on a transcript of
judgment from magistrate's court, three dollars;
(8) For arranging the papers in a certified question, writ of
error, appeal or removal to any other court, five dollars;
(9) For postage and express and for sending or receiving
decrees, orders or records, by mail or express, three times the
amount of the postage or express charges;
(10) For each subpoena, on the part of either plaintiff or
defendant, to be paid by the party requesting the same, fifty
cents; and
(11) For additional service (plaintiff or appellant) where any case remains on the docket longer than three years, for each
additional year or part year, twenty dollars.
(c) The clerk shall tax the following fees for services in any
criminal case against any defendant convicted in such court:
(1) In the case of any misdemeanor, fifty-five dollars; and
(2) In the case of any felony, sixty-five dollars.
(d) No such clerk shall be required to handle or accept for
disbursement any fees, cost or amounts, of any other officer or
party not payable into the county treasury, except it be on order
of the court or in compliance with the provisions of law governing
such fees, costs or accounts.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt state agencies
from the requirement that circuit and magistrate court costs in
civil actions be paid in advance.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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