HB 536: Modify cost apportionment - municipal court civil traffic tickets

(A) The current operating costs of a municipal court, other than a county-operated municipal court, that has territorial jurisdiction under section 1901.02 or 1901.182 of the Revised Code that extends beyond the corporate limits of the municipal corporation in which the court is located shall be apportioned pursuant to this section among all of the municipal corporations and townships that are within the territory of the court. Each municipal corporation and each township within the territory of the municipal court shall be assigned a proportionate share of the current operating costs of the municipal court that is equal to the percentage of the total criminal and civil caseload of the municipal court that arose in that municipal corporation or township. Each municipal corporation and each township then shall be liable for its assigned proportionate share of the current operating costs of the court, subject to division (B) of this section.

For purposes of this section, the criminal and civil caseload that arose in a municipal corporation or township is the total number of criminal cases filed in the municipal court during the preceding calendar year that arose out of offenses that occurred in the municipal corporation or township, the total number of civil actions filed in the municipal court during the preceding calendar year concerning a violation of a state traffic law or a municipal traffic ordinance that occurred in the municipal corporation, and the total number of other civil cases filed in the municipal court during the preceding calendar year in which the address of the majority of the defendants that are designated in the caption of the case and that have addresses within municipal corporations or townships within the territory of the court is within the municipal corporation or township or, if there is no majority of such defendants, in which the address of the first such defendant is within the municipal corporation or township.

(B) A municipal corporation or township within the territory of a municipal court is not required to pay that part of its proportionate share of the current operating costs of the court, as determined in accordance with division (A) of this section, that exceeds the total amount of costs, fees, fines, bail, or other moneys that was disbursed by the clerk of the court under division (F) of section 1901.31 of the Revised Code, to the municipal corporation or township during the period for which its proportionate share of the current operating costs was determined. The municipal corporation in which the court is located is liable, in addition to its proportionate share, for any part of the proportionate share of a municipal corporation or township that the municipal corporation or township is not required to pay under this division.

(C) The auditors or chief fiscal officers of each of the municipal corporations and townships within the territory of a municipal court for which the current operating costs are apportioned under this section shall meet not less than once each six months at the office of the auditor or chief fiscal officer of the municipal corporation in which the court is located to determine the proportionate share due from each municipal corporation and each township, to determine whether any municipal corporation or township is not required to pay any part of its proportionate share under division (B) of this section, and to adjust accounts. The meetings shall be held at the direction of the auditor or chief fiscal officer of the municipal corporation in which the court is located, and the auditor or chief fiscal officer shall preside at the meetings. The proportionate share of each of the municipal corporations and townships, as reduced or increased in accordance with division (B) of this section, is payable from the general fund of the municipal corporation or township or from any other fund designated or funds appropriated for the purpose of paying the particular municipal corporation's or township's proportionate share of the current operating costs of the court.

The court of common pleas of the county in which a municipal court for which the current operating costs are apportioned under this section is located has jurisdiction over any civil action that is commenced to determine the current operating costs of the court, the proportionate share of the current operating costs to be paid by a particular municipal corporation or township within the territory of the court, or whether a municipal corporation or township is not required to pay any part of its proportionate share under division (B) of this section.

(D) For purposes of this section:

(1) "Operating costs" means the figure that is derived by subtracting the total of all costs that are collected and paid to the city treasury by the clerk of the municipal court pursuant to division (F) of section 1901.31 of the Revised Code and all interest received and paid to the city treasury in relation to the costs pursuant to division (G) of section 1901.31 of the Revised Code from the total of the amounts payable from the city treasury for the operation of the court pursuant to sections 1901.10, 1901.11, 1901.111, 1901.12, 1901.31, 1901.311, 1901.312, 1901.32, 1901.33, 1901.331, 1901.36, 1901.37, and 1901.38 of the Revised Code, other than any amounts payable from the city treasury for the operation of the court involving construction, capital improvements, rent, or the provision of heat and light.

(2) "Township" means a township that has adopted a limited home rule government pursuant to Chapter 504. of the Revised Code.

(3) "Criminal caseload" when used in regard to a township means cases arising from a violation of a township resolution for which a fine is imposed under Chapter 504. of the Revised Code.

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