Plan to Implement User Fees Within the Franklin County Municipal Court, Department of Probation Services: Recommendations to the Franklin County Municipal Court, Columbus, Ohio

• NCJ Number: 148938
• Author(s): K P Clark
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 147 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Dissertation/Thesis
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Central Michigan University - Masters Degree

Annotation

Following the enactment of H.B. 406 in the Ohio 120th General Assembly, providing enabling legislation for probation user fees, the Franklin County Municipal Court commissioned this study to design and prepare a user fee program proposal.

Abstract

This paper reviews the existing literature on the subject of probation user fees, as well as literature on the implementation and collection of fees in other jurisdictions. The author conducted a survey of judges, probation supervisors, and probation officers in the Court regarding the imposition of fees and the disposition of revenues generated by these fees. As a result of the survey results, a four-phase user fee program was designed to provide services at little or no significant addition of workload to court dockets. These services would include enhanced supervision and increased accountability for defendants, enhanced revenue for the Court's Department of Probation Services, decreased recidivism, and additional assistance to probation officers in terms of motivating clients and enhancing the officer-client relationship. 2 tables, 7 figures, 44 references, and 6 appendixes