§45-3-82.47. Costs and fees.

(a) An applicant may be assessed a fee to be established by the district attorney when the applicant is approved for the program. The amount of the assessment for participation in the program shall be in addition to any court costs and assessments for victims or drug, alcohol, or anger management treatment required by law, the district attorney, or the court, and are in addition to costs of supervision, treatment, and restitution for which the pretrial diversion admittee may be responsible. Pretrial diversion program fees as established by this subpart may be waived or reduced due to indigency or reduced ability to pay or for other just cause at the discretion of the district attorney. The determination of indigency of the offender, for the purpose of pretrial diversion admission, fee waiver, or reduction shall be made by the district attorney. A schedule of payments for any of these fees may be established by the district attorney.

(b) The following fees shall be paid by the applicants accepted into the pretrial diversion program:

(1) Felony offenses: Up to eight hundred fifty dollars ($850).

(2) Misdemeanor offenses, excluding traffic: Up to five hundred dollars ($500).

(3) Traffic offenses: Up to three hundred dollars ($300).

(4) Violations: Up to two hundred dollars ($200).

(c) The following additional fees may be applied to each applicable case in the following amounts:

(1) Up to one hundred dollars ($100) of the fee for each applicant accepted into the pretrial diversion program may be allocated at the discretion of the district attorney to the Barbour County Circuit Clerk's Office for offenses filed in Barbour County and to the Bullock County Circuit Clerk's Office for offenses filed in Bullock County. Money allocated to a circuit clerk pursuant to this subdivision shall be available for use, at the clerk's discretion, to support the clerk's office operation. These uses may include, but not be limited to, hiring employees, buying needed equipment and supplies, or providing training opportunities.

(2) Up to fifty dollars ($50) of the fee for each applicant accepted into the pretrial diversion program may be allocated at the discretion of the district attorney to the arresting or ticketing law enforcement agency making the case. Those fees may be used at the agency's discretion to support its operations. These uses may include, but are not limited to, hiring employees, buying needed equipment and supplies, providing training opportunities, or any other lawful purpose.

(3) Up to one hundred dollars ($100) of the fee for each applicant accepted into the pretrial diversion program may be allocated at the discretion of the district attorney to the Barbour County General Fund for offenses filed in Barbour County and to the Bullock County General Fund for offenses filed in Bullock County.

(d) Except as herein specifically allocated, the district attorney may use fees collected by the pretrial diversion program to fund the pretrial diversion program; for the prosecution of state criminal cases; to help support local and state law enforcement and coroners; for education programs which relate to the prosecution, detection, or prevention of crime; or to benefit any agency or department of state, city, or county government which assists local law enforcement. This support shall be provided to help employ more prosecutors, law enforcement officers, investigators, or staff, buy needed equipment or supplies, provide training opportunities, or any other prosecutorial or law enforcement purposes.

(e) All fees required by this subpart shall be collected and disbursed by the circuit clerk's office in which the offense was filed. Those fees due to the district attorney shall then be disbursed to the district attorney and shall be deposited by the district attorney into the Pretrial Diversion Fund as provided in Section 45-3-82.50. The circuit clerk shall make the disbursement in a timely manner.

(f) The district attorney shall be allowed without further legislative action to raise fees to meet and equal those prescribed by the Legislature in the event a state pretrial diversion program is enacted after the enactment of this subpart.

(Act 2007-499, p. 1058, §8.)