50-State Criminal Justice Debt Reform Builder Bringing transparency to areas of significant legal complexity.
Collections Infrastructure
Keyword search across all of the laws in the states. Subject-area tabs above allow you to narrow results. Click the advanced search for further refinement.
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Who may collect
Below are the collections infrastructure provisions that meet your search criteria.
61 Results
| State | Statute | Description/Statute Name | Statutory language | |
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Idaho | Idaho code § 19-4707 | Designation of Other Than Clerk of Court to Collect Fines |
If it appears that there is a necessity that fines and forfeitures be initially collected by a person other than the clerk of the district court or a person appointed by the clerk for that purpose, the Supreme Court by rule or administrative order may provide for the designation of persons to receive such fines and forfeitures. Persons so designated shall account for such fines and forfeitures in the same manner required of the clerk of the district court and shall pay such fines and forfeitures to the clerk of the district court of the county in which such fines and forfeitures are collected.
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Missouri | Mo. Ann. Stat. § 546.595 | Associate circuit judge to file statement with certain officers if no appeal--collection of fines |
It shall be the duty of the associate circuit judge before whom any conviction may be had under this chapter, if there be no appeal, to make out and certify, and within ten days after the date of the judgment, deliver to the treasurer of the county and clerk of the county commission each a statement of the case, the amount of the fine and return day of the execution, and the name of the officer charged with the collection thereof; and the county treasurer shall charge the officer with the amount of such fine, and unless the same be paid into the county treasury on or before the return day of the execution, the county commission shall, at their next term, ten days' notice being given to the officer in default and his sureties, render an account stated against them for the amount due, and twenty percent thereon, making, however, proper deductions for insolvencies; on which account stated suit may be maintained and when collected, the proceeds paid in the county treasury.
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Missouri | Mo. Ann. Stat. § 552.08(2),(4) | Court costs, examination fees, care and treatment, transportation, how paid |
2. The expenses and fees provided in subsection 1 of this section may be levied and collected under execution; except that, if the state or county has by inadvertence or mistake paid expenses or fees as provided in subsection 1 of this section, the political entity having made such a mistake or inadvertent payment shall be entitled to recover the same from the entity responsible for such payment.
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Missouri | Mo. Ann. Stat. § 559.1(3) | Circuit courts, power to place on probation or parole--revocation--conditions--restitution |
Restitution, whether court-ordered as provided in subsection 2 of this section or agreed to by the parties, or as enforced under section 558.019, shall be paid through the office of the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney from contracting with or utilizing another entity for the collection of restitution and costs under this section.
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Nebraska | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2701 | Execution |
All money due upon any judgment for fines, costs, or forfeited recognizances shall be paid to the judge or clerk of the court where the judgment is pending, if paid before execution is issued therefor, otherwise to the officer holding the execution, or such money may be paid to the sheriff of the county if the judgment debtor is in jail. Every sheriff, marshal, or other ministerial officer who shall receive any such money shall pay the same to the proper clerk of the court within ten days from the time of receiving the same.
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Nebraska | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2706 | Conviction in felony cases; fines and costs; collection from defendant; disposition of amount collected |
In any case of indictment for felony, where the defendant shall be convicted, it shall be the duty of the county attorney, clerk of the court, and sheriff of the county to use all lawful means within the scope of their respective powers, if need be, for the collection of the costs from the defendant, and the fine also, if any shall have been adjudged against him. When the costs shall have been collected, if the same shall have been allowed for payment from the county treasurer as provided in section 29-2705, it shall be the duty of the clerk of the court to certify and pay the same immediately to the county treasurer, together with any fine that may have been collected in the case.
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New Hampshire | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 616:5 | Powers of Selectmen |
Whenever a penalty or forfeiture or any part thereof is given to a town, the selectmen may sue therefor in the name of the town, shall defray the expenses of the action and may remit the penalty or forfeiture.
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New Hampshire | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 618:3 | Fines, to Whom Paid |
No fines or other money belonging to a county shall be paid to the county attorney; but when imposed or recovered in the superior court they shall be paid to the clerk of court or to the sheriff having a precept therefor.
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New Hampshire | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 499:9 | Executions for Fines, Etc. |
At or before the close of each term of the court, the clerk shall deliver to the sheriff proper executions, warrants or other processes for the collection of fines, costs or other money accruing to the state during the term, and transmit a list thereof to the supreme court.
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Texas | Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 103.003 | Collection |
(a) District and county attorneys, clerks of district and county courts, sheriffs, constables, and justices of the peace may collect money payable under this title. (b) A community supervision and corrections department and a county treasurer may collect money payable under this title with the written approval of the clerk of the court or fee officer, and may collect money payable as otherwise provided by law.
(c) This article does not limit the authority of a commissioners court to contract with a private vendor or private attorney for the provision of collection services under Article 103.0031. |
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Washington | Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 3.66.120 | Court-ordered restitution--Enforcement |
All court-ordered restitution obligations that are ordered as a result of a conviction for a criminal offense in a court of limited jurisdiction may be enforced in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action by the party or entity to whom the legal financial obligation is owed. The judgment and sentence must identify the party or entity to whom restitution is owed so that the state, party, or entity may enforce the judgment. All court-ordered restitution obligations may be enforced at any time during the ten-year period following the offender's release from total confinement or within ten years of entry of the judgment and sentence, whichever period is longer. Prior to the expiration of the initial ten-year period, the court may extend the criminal judgment an additional ten years for payment of court-ordered restitution only if the court finds that the offender has not made a good faith attempt to pay. The party or entity to whom the court-ordered restitution obligation is owed may utilize any other remedies available to the party or entity to collect the court-ordered financial obligation.
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Washington | Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 6.17.120 | Sheriff's duty on receiving writ--Order of executing writs |
The sheriff or other officer shall indorse upon the writ of execution in ink, the day, hour, and minute when the writ first came into his or her hands, and the execution shall be returned with a report of proceedings under the writ within sixty days after its date to the clerk who issued it. When there are several writs of execution or of execution and attachment against the same debtor, they shall be executed in the order in which they were received by the sheriff.
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Texas | Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 103.025 | Alternative Payment Procedure for Certain Past Due Fines and Costs |
a) This article applies to a defendant's past due payment on a judgment for a fine and related court costs if a capias pro fine has been issued in the case.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court may adopt an alternative procedure for collecting a past due payment described by Subsection (a). Under the procedure, a peace officer who executes a capias pro fine or who is authorized to arrest a defendant on other grounds and knows that the defendant owes a past due payment described by Subsection (a): (1) shall inform the defendant of: (A) the possibility of making an immediate payment of the fine and related court costs by use of a credit or debit card; and (B) the defendant's available alternatives to making an immediate payment; and (2) may accept, on behalf of the court, the defendant's immediate payment of the fine and related court costs by use of a credit or debit card, after which the peace officer may release the defendant as appropriate based on the officer's authority for the arrest. (c) A peace officer accepting a payment under Subsection (b)(2) may also accept payment for fees for the issuance and execution of the capias pro fine. |
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Washington | Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 9.94A.760(5),(9)-(10),(13) | Legal financial obligations |
(5) Independent of the department or the county clerk, the party or entity to whom the legal financial obligation is owed shall have the authority to use any other remedies available to the party or entity to collect the legal financial obligation. These remedies include enforcement in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action by the party or entity to whom the legal financial obligation is owed. Restitution collected through civil enforcement must be paid through the registry of the court and must be distributed proportionately according to each victim’s loss when there is more than one victim. The judgment and sentence shall identify the party or entity to whom restitution is owed so that the state, party, or entity may enforce the judgment.
(9) After the judgment and sentence or payment order is entered, the department is authorized, for any period of supervision, to collect the legal financial obligation from the offender. Subsequent to any period of supervision or, if the department is not authorized to supervise the offender in the community, the county clerk is authorized to collect unpaid legal financial obligations from the offender. Any amount collected by the department shall be remitted daily to the county clerk for the purpose of disbursements. The department and the county clerks are authorized, but not required, to accept credit cards as payment for a legal financial obligation, and any costs incurred related to accepting credit card payments shall be the responsibility of the offender. (10) The department or any obligee of the legal financial obligation may seek a mandatory wage assignment for the purposes of obtaining satisfaction for the legal financial obligation pursuant to RCW 9.94A.7701. Any party obtaining a wage assignment shall notify the county clerk. The county clerks shall notify the department, or the administrative office of the courts, whichever is providing the monthly billing for the offender. (13) The department shall arrange for the collection of unpaid legal financial obligations during any period of supervision in the community through the county clerk. The department shall either collect unpaid legal financial obligations or arrange for collections through another entity if the clerk does not assume responsibility or is unable to continue to assume responsibility for collection pursuant to subsection (5) of this section. The costs for collection services shall be paid by the offender. |
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West Virginia | W. Va. Code § 59-1-29 | Collection of such fees |
Each clerk of the county commission, sheriff, clerk of the circuit court and prosecuting attorney shall have charge of and collect the fees, costs, percentages, penalties, commissions, allowances, compensation, income and all other perquisites of whatever kind which are now or may hereafter be allowed by law. Whenever there remain due the county and unpaid, for a period of more than six months, any fees, costs, percentages, penalties, commissions, allowances, compensation, income or any other perquisites of any kind, it shall be the duty of the county commission, or other tribunal in lieu thereof, by the prosecuting attorney, to proceed to the collection thereof in the circuit court or magistrate court, upon motion whereof the defendant and the sureties on his bond shall have at least twenty days’ notice, or in any other manner provided for by law, and the amount so collected shall be paid into the county treasury to the credit of the general county fund.
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West Virginia | W. Va. Code § 62-4-8 | Duties of prosecuting attorney in relation to fines |
It shall be the duty of the prosecuting attorney of every county to institute and prosecute in the circuit court, or other court having jurisdiction thereof, as the case may be, proper proceedings for the recovery of all fines imposed by law, where the cases are cognizable in such court. He shall superintend the issuing of executions on judgments for fines rendered by such courts, and cause all delinquencies in relation to the service or return of such executions to be duly prosecuted. If judgment be rendered by the circuit or other court for a fine, whether with or without imprisonment, a docket fee of ten dollars for the prosecuting attorney’s services, but payable into the county treasury, shall be taxed in the costs against the offender.
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West Virginia | W. Va. Code § 62-4-11 | Fieri facias for collection of fines |
On every judgment for a fine rendered by a circuit court, or other court of record having jurisdiction in criminal cases, if no special order be made by the court or judge, the clerk of the court shall issue a writ of fieri facias immediately after the term at which such judgment was rendered. And unless paid in court, a payment to any person other than the officer who holds the execution shall not discharge the judgment.
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West Virginia | W. Va. Code § 50-3-6 | Collection of costs and fines |
On motion of the prosecuting attorney, the magistrate court may issue execution or employ other means of enforcing judgment to collect fines and costs imposed in proceedings before the court and tax the cost thereof as a part of the execution or other process. Such execution or other process shall be directed to the sheriff for collection. The sheriff shall collect the fees prescribed for his services from the party from whom the fine or costs are being collected. Money so collected shall be paid by the sheriff to the magistrate court and shall be paid by the magistrate court in the manner provided by law.
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West Virginia | W. Va. Code § 59-1-21 | Fee bills of county clerk. |
The clerk of the county court may make out tickets for his fees and place them in the hands of the sheriff, or other officer, to be collected and accounted for in the same manner that the fees of the clerk of the circuit court are collected and accounted for. The clerk of the county court shall be subject to the same penalties as the clerk of the circuit court for issuing fee bills wrongfully.
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West Virginia | W. Va. Code § 59-1-24 | Collection of fees; receipt. |
Every officer mentioned in this article shall, on or before the first day of July in any year, deliver fee bills for all fees then due and unpaid, duly signed, to any sheriff or collector of the public taxes, who shall receive and endeavor to collect the same. A sheriff or collector may distrain therefor, or for any fee bills due himself, such property of the person to whom the fees are charged as might be levied on under a writ of fieri facias against him, except as hereinafter mentioned, and the fourteenth [§ 11-9-14], fifteenth [§ 11-9-15] and sixteenth [§ 11-9-16] sections of article nine chapter eleven of this Code shall apply to such fee bills in like manner as to taxes. Every such officer shall deliver to each person who pays him, or from whose property he makes such fees, a receipt for all that is so paid or made.
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