District and Circuit Courts; Increases Court Fees - Senate Bill 329 increases the court fees in both district and circuit court from: (i) $27 to $75 in a district court civil action; and, (ii) the current scale of $60-$160 to $500-$1,000 in civil actions in circuit court. The fee increases under this bill in district court are allocated to the sheriffs' departments, and the increases in circuit court are split between the sheriffs' (80%) and the clerks' (20%) offices to be used exclusively for achieving the current staffing standards of the two constitutional offices. The $10 fee for the Courts Technology Fund is removed from civil cases. The Fund still receives fees applicable to other filings in the circuit and appellate courts.  The LAC opposed this bill, and the bill was left in committee and did not pass.  However, the subject matter of the bill was addressed in Budget Bill - House Bill 30, below.

District and Circuit Courts; Increases Court Fees - Budget Bill - House Bill 30 increases the court fees in district court from $22 to $30 for civil action and amends the filing fee for civil actions in circuit court seeking monetary awards, as follows:  from $60 to $100 for cases seeking $49,000 or less; from $110 to $200 for cases seeking more than $49,000 to $100,000; and from $160 to $250 for cases seeking more than $100,000 to $500,000.