Troubleshooting or changing filing fees

KB article ID: 915 (permalink)

The court will need to review all filing fees and their use, to make sure everything is set up correctly.  The following is intended to help the court understand how filing fees are  configured, so they can review and troubleshoot their fees.


Filing fees are configured in different places, depending upon what the fees are for and whether they are associated with a specific filing type.

Fees for initial case filing

These are configured using the Filing Fee Reference Code right on the Case Type (subtype) tab.  Since Goodin's Filing Fee Reference Codes are just case type and amount, it's easy to see if a subtype has a filing fee and whether it is the correct amount.


Fees for subsequent filings

Scenario #1: when fees can always be collected by the filing of specific named filing type

These are configured using the Filing Fee Reference Code right on the Filing Code tab

Examples:

  • Motion to modify/vacate/appearance- some courts have chosen to have one set of Filing Codes for "before 30 days" and one for "after 30 days", so that a filing fee could be set on the FilingCode for most case types. Goodin added all of these filing codes to our master configuration, so the Court can activate them during the configuration review if desired.
  • Counter Petition/Counter Claim- the configuration files we're seeing already have a lot of "flavors" of these for various subtypes.  But numerous Clerks have told us that if they make sure that the appearance fees (which can vary by case type and subtype) are paid, most case types have the same price for filing a counter.
  • Third-party complaints-  again, Clerks have told us that if they make sure that the appearance fee is paid, most case types have the same price for filing a counter.


Scenario #2: when fees can't always be collected by a specific named filing

Option A:  configured using "optional services"

Examples:
  • Jury demands- the filer can request a jury trial in their Answer rather than filing a formal Jury Demand
  • Appearance fees- there won't be a formal Appearance filing if the appearance is part of the Answer... or when the fee was paid by an attorney previously hired by the litigant

This scenario requires the use of optional services.  This is because the process involves creation of a Filing Component (optional service item) and then tying that Filing Component to all of the filings on the case type.  Tyler has a tool which does a lot of this work. 

Note: To learn more about optional services, see the video available here.

Option B- configured using Filing Codes and optional services

With optional services, the filer can easily forget to go pick the optional service item.  But if the filing fee is configured on the Filing Code, the filer can't forget.  So when optional services are required, some courts choose to also have "fee" and "no fee" versions of the Filing Codes.  When the filer selects the Filing Code having a fee, it becomes unnecessary for them to select an optional service.
Examples:
  • Appearance fees- the filer uses the "Appearance" Filing Code when filing a formal appearance, and uses the "Appearance- no fee" Filing Code when the fee has already been paid.  And if their appearance was part of their Answer, they use the optional service item. 






Comments