(a) There shall be levied and collected the following court costs from each defendant upon each conviction, each plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or each forfeiture of bond:
(1) For misdemeanor or felony violations of state law, excluding violations of the Omnibus DWI Act, § 5-65-101 et seq., in circuit court, one hundred fifty dollars ($150);
(2) For offenses which are misdemeanors or violations of state law, excluding violations of the Omnibus DWI Act, § 5-65-101 et seq., in district court, one hundred dollars ($100.00);
(3) For traffic offenses which are misdemeanors or violations under state law or local ordinance, excluding violations of the Omnibus DWI Act, § 5-65-101 et seq., in district court, seventy-five dollars ($75.00);
(4) For nontraffic offenses which are misdemeanors or violations under local ordinance in district or city court, twenty-five dollars ($25.00);
(5) For violations of the Omnibus DWI Act, § 5-65-101 et seq., in circuit court, district or city court, three hundred dollars ($300);
(6) For offenses which are misdemeanors or violations under state law, excluding violations of the Omnibus DWI Act, § 5-65-101 et seq., seventy-five dollars ($75.00) in city court; and
(7) For traffic offenses which are misdemeanors or violations under state law or local ordinance, excluding violations of the Omnibus DWI Act, § 5-65-101 et seq., fifty dollars ($50.00) in city court.
(b) (1) The costs set forth in this section shall be imposed at the conclusion of any criminal case enumerated in subsection (a) of this section that does not end in an acquittal, dismissal, or, with the consent of the prosecution, an order nolle prosequi.
(2) The costs shall be imposed at the conclusion of cases involving a suspended or probated sentence even though that sentence may be expunged or otherwise removed from the defendant's record.
(c) No county, municipality, or town shall be liable for the payment of the costs taxed under this section in any instance where they are not collected, or in any case in which the defendant pays the costs by serving time in a jail, on a county farm, or at any other official place of detention or work.
(d) No municipality or county shall authorize and no city court, district court, or circuit court shall assess or collect any other court costs other than those authorized by this act, unless specifically provided by state law.
(e) This section shall become effective July 1, 2001, and the revised court costs shall be imposed on all cases which come before the court for final disposition on or after July 1, 2001.
History. Acts 1995, No. 1256, § 7; 1997, No. 788, § 4; 1997, No. 1341, § 4; 1999, No. 1081, §§ 3, 12; 1999, No. 1508, § 7; 2001, No. 1632, § 1; 2003, No. 1185, § 49.
A.C.R.C. Notes. Acts 2001, No. 1632, § 2, provided:
“The additional funds which are generated from these fees and a portion of which are transferred to the State Administration of Justice Fund under § 16-10-307(e) and § 16-10-308(e) are assessed in order to provide essential funding for legal counsel for indigent parents and for children in dependency-neglect proceedings in juvenile cases.”
Publisher's Notes. For text of section effective January 1, 2012, see the following version.
Amendments. The 1997 amendment by No. 788 rewrote (a)(1)-(5); added (a)(6); deleted the subdivision designations in (b); inserted “enumerated in subsection (a) of this section” in the first paragraph of (b); and added (e).
The 1997 amendment by No. 1341 rewrote (a); deleted the subdivision designations in (b); inserted “enumerated in subsection (a) of this section” in the first paragraph in (b); and added (e).
The 1999 amendment by No. 1081 repealed the version of this section as amended by Acts 1997, No. 788; substituted “offenses which are misdemeanors or” for “misdemeanor” in (a)(2); inserted “misdemeanors or” in (a)(4); deleted “or local ordinance” following “under state law” in (a)(6); added (a)(7); and made stylistic changes.
The 1999 amendment by No. 1508 repealed the version of this section as amended by Acts 1997, No. 788.
The 2001 amendment, in (a), inserted “the following court costs” and substituted “each forfeiture of bond” for “forfeiture of bond, the following court costs”; substituted “one hundred dollars ($100.00)” for “seventy-five dollars ($75.00)” in (a)(2); substituted “seventy-five dollars ($75.00)” for “fifty dollars ($50.00)” in (a)(6); substituted “The costs” for “They” in (b)(2); and substituted “2001” for “1997” twice in (e).
The 2003 amendment substituted “district” for “municipal” throughout; deleted “or police” following “city” in (a)(4); deleted “court” following “district,” and “or police court” preceding “three” in (a)(5); deleted “police court” following “city court” in (a)(6) and (a)(7); deleted “police court” preceding “city court” in (d); and made stylistic changes.
Effective Dates. Acts 2003, No. 1185, § 49: Jan. 1, 2005, by its own terms.
Meaning of “this act”. See note to § 16-10-301.
Cross References. Legislative intent of Acts 1997, Nos. 788 and 1341, § 16-10-601.
District court generally, § 16-17-132.
Transition to state funding, § 16-87-301.
Jurisdiction of circuit courts, Ark. Const. Amend. 80, §§ 6, 19.
Case Notes
Neither §§ 16-10-301 to 16-10-305 nor §§ 21-6-402 to 21-6-406 refer to a fee that may be charged by bailiffs, clerks, or the courts for potential juror information. Therefore, a circuit court erred when it refused to refund a $3.00 fee charged by a bailiff for potential juror information in a criminal case. Aikens v. State, - Ark. -, - S.W.3d -, 2007 Ark. LEXIS 104 (Feb. 8, 2007).
Where the state appealed and claimed that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to grant defendant's post trial motion to correct court costs, the appellate court treated the appeal as a petition for writ of certiorari under Ark. R. App. P. Crim. 3 and found that, under Ark. R. Crim. P. 33.3(b), defendant's motion was filed six days after the 30-day deadline and was thus untimely. State v. Boyette, 362 Ark. 27, 207 S.W.3d 488 (2005).