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Forest Park council backs resolution to seek state authorization for municipal-court technology fee
Summary
The council voted Dec. 15 to approve a resolution asking the city’s legislative delegation to seek state authority for a municipal-court technology fee (not to exceed $10) to pay for court and police technology. Councilmembers voiced concern about perceptions and asked for monitoring of funds.
Forest Park — The Forest Park City Council on Dec. 15 approved a resolution to pursue state legislation permitting the municipal court to add a technology fee of up to $10 on criminal and quasi‑criminal fines.
A municipal staff member told the council the fee would be used "exclusively to provide for the following technological needs of the court and the city's police department," including hardware, software, evidence‑management systems and online-payment services. The staff presentation asked the council to authorize the city’s legislative delegation to present the bill to the General Assembly in January.
During discussion Councilman Gutierrez cautioned against how the fee might be perceived, saying, "Anybody that comes in is not everybody is a criminal. I just I don't like that," and asked whether the city could implement a monitoring period to review how the money is used. City staff responded that "quasi criminal" is a legal term of art and that similar fees are common among jurisdictions; staff noted the draft resolution would allow the judge to set the fee not to exceed $10 and that funds would be held in a segregated account and expended only upon the judge's order after consultation with court administration and the police chief.
Why it matters: The resolution does not itself impose a fee but authorizes Forest Park to seek state authorization. If enacted by the General Assembly and enabled locally, the fee would create a dedicated revenue stream intended to fund court and related technology.
Vote and next steps: Council approved the request by roll call in the regular session. Staff said the next step is to work with the city's legislative delegation to introduce the enabling bill in the upcoming General Assembly session; the timeline and final fee level would depend on legislative outcome and the judge's order if enacted.
The council did not set a local effective date during the meeting; implementation would be contingent on state authorization.
