NCJ Number
78240
Date Published
1980
Length
45 pages
Annotation
This staff brief contains background information relating to trial court fees and costs in Wisconsin; a summary of the current user fee structure is provided and alternative approaches to revising the cost structure are highlighted.
Abstract
The legislature recently increased the State's share of the financial burden of operating the trial court system by assuming total payment of compensation to judges and court reporters. The counties still assume all other operational costs of Wisconsin's trial courts. The State's current statutory user fee structure consists of a myriad of itemized suit taxes, general and specialized clerk's fees, special fees in certain types of actions, fees for various services performed by such officials as court commissioners, and other miscellaneous user fees. There has been little systematic correlation as to the various amounts charged to litigants for commencing actions and filing documents. The report suggests that various philosophical principles underlying the court user fee system should be considered and reconciled prior to attempting statutory reform. For example, the need for defraying expenses must be balanced against the need for discouraging the frivolous use of the courts by raising fee levels. Restructuring of the fees and costs based on the ability to pay or the court time expended by litigants is one possibility. Consolidation of fees and costs into a single chapter of the statutes, elimination of seldom used fees, or combining several fees to a designated official for similar purposes provide a number of alternatives to the present structure. Two tables are appended. (Author abstract modified)