State court officials flag collection trends and possible shortfall in criminal fines account

State Court Administrator Nancy Kozine and Oregon Judicial Department operations official Jessica Rozier told the Oregon House Public Safety Subcommittee on Feb. 5 that courts are collecting less money from fines and fees than in past biennia and that statutory changes and pandemic disruptions have shifted more revenue to victims and away from the Criminal Fine Account.

Kozine told Co-Chair Bridal, Co-Chair Evans and subcommittee members that courts do not retain most fines and fees and must accurately distribute funds each month to victims, the state general fund, the Criminal Fine Account and local citing agencies. Kozine quoted a national guidance paper, saying, “State courts occupy a unique place in democracy. Public trust in them is essential,” and repeated the courts’ stated principle that they are “not established to be a revenue generating arm of any branch of government.”

The subcommittee heard that total court-collected revenue has declined from prior biennia. Jessica Rozier summarized recent totals, saying the judicial department collected roughly $297 million in 2017–19, about $250 million in 2019–21 and had taken in approximately $176 million in the first 18 months of the 2023–25 biennium. She and Kozine attributed part of that decline to pandemic-era reductions in civil filings and violations, changes in enforcement (including limits on license suspensions for nonpayment) and statutory changes such as House Bill 4,075 (2022) that reprioritized restitution ahead of fines and fees.

Rozier explained practical effects: restitution judgments can take decades to collect —…