Idaho Bills

Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding the distribution of payments in cases under the Juvenile Corrections Act.

Several different fees, costs, and restitution (hereinafter collectively referred to as “fees”) may be assessed by courts in cases filed under the Juvenile Corrections Act, chapter 5, title 20, Idaho Code. The persons ordered to pay these fees are rarely able to initially pay the total amount due, and thus, they will submit partial payments to the clerk. These partial payments must be distributed per the various statutes governing each fee. The fee statutes have been adopted at various times by different legislatures, and since there is no clear statutory direction regarding the priorities for the order of disbursement of the fees, the Supreme Court has entered an order establishing a priority. This bill seeks important policy decisions from the Legislature in order to establish a disbursement schedule in a single statute. Enactment of this proposed statute will allow programming of the Court’s case management system to accomplish the Legislature’s policy directives. In addition, organizing all of the possible fees in a single statute will allow for better understanding of the effects of the distribution order. Many of the fees compensate for important services provided in these cases and provide vital support for the programs funded by the fees. This legislation also seeks to maintain the long-standing legislative policy of requiring that court-ordered fee payments be submitted to the clerk of the court in order to continue consistent and accountable tracking of all payments and ensure legislative policy is followed in distribution. Finally, while this bill represents a suggested prioritization, it is offered with the understanding and intention that important policy decisions by the Legislature may require re-ordering of the distribution schedule.