WJI calls for reduced court fees and surcharges

The Wisconsin Justice Initiative is calling on Gov. Tony Evers to eliminate several court fees and surcharges or redirect them to support the underfunded state court system.

The state’s $6.6 billion surplus presents the perfect opportunity to ease court-imposed financial burdens on litigants, WJI President Craig Johnson said in a letter to Evers.

“It’s time for the state to step up and fund its court system,” Johnson said. “It should not place the burden on poor people, and it should not demand payment for purposes unrelated to the specific case at issue. At the very least, money collected through the courts should be used to adequately fund the courts. It should not be just another source of money for unrelated purposes.” 

The governor also should include in his 2023-2025 state budget proposal funding for municipal courts to provide language interpretation services and a mandate that they do so, Johnson said.

Interpretation services are not required for most municipal court cases, meaning that defendants can be found guilty of offenses and fined without understanding the charges against them or what is discussed in court. Failure to pay the forfeitures can lead to a jail sentence.

Johnson listed several steps Evers should take to erase or redirect court fees and surcharges. They include:

• Eliminating the crime lab and drug law enforcement fee unless there is evidence the case included state crime lab services or a controlled substance violation.  
• Eliminating the drug offender diversion surcharge unless the offense involved a controlled substance violation.
• Eliminating the global positioning tracking surcharge unless the defendant actually is ordered to participate in such tracking and no other costs were charged for the device / service.
• Eliminating or redirecting the weapons surcharge from the fish and wildlife account to anti-violence initiatives.
• Eliminating the 5% restitution surcharge and fee or redirecting it to support court functions and services.
• Directing 100% of all consumer protection surcharges to the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection for consumer protection purposes.
• Eliminating the state’s share of the municipal court fee or redirecting it to court functions and services.
• Eliminating the portion of the circuit court civil clerk fee that is not designated specifically for court functions or redirecting the share to court functions and services.
• Eliminating the criminal clerk fee or redirecting it to court functions and services.
• Eliminating state debt collection and tax intercept fees or reducing them to only cover the state’s expenses. Many of those collection efforts are tied to unpaid forfeitures.

Tables of court fees and surcharges are here.