Madison County Board adopts state-mandated overhaul of court fees; members pledge to protect Child Advocacy Center funding

Madison County Board members on Wednesday adopted Ordinance 2019-05, a county measure required to implement the Illinois Clerks of Courts Act and the Criminal and Traffic Assessment Act that revamps civil filing fees and criminal and traffic assessments across court schedules.

The ordinance sets new civil filing schedules (Schedule 1 filing fee $314, Schedule 2 $264, Schedule 3 $89) and multiple criminal/traffic assessment schedules and specifies how those fees will be distributed among state and county funds. County staff said the changes reflect state law and increase many fees currently collected locally.

At the meeting Ms. Burch, a county clerk’s office staff member, explained that “all of the fees actually have increased except the Child Advocacy Center fee,” and described how the state-directed $45 allocation for civil cases will be divided among court automation, document storage and an operation and administration fee. She said some counties have chosen to allocate funds directly to restricted accounts while Madison County’s Finance and Judiciary committees recommended routing many of the receipts through the county general fund to preserve flexibility.

Several board members said they were concerned about preserving services that depend on court-related assessments. “The cuts to the Child Advocacy Center need to be reinstated,” said County Board member Mike Parkinson. “Law enforcement cannot do their job locking up bad guys and protecting children without the Child Advocacy Center.” Board member Mike Michael and others said the board has stepped up funding for the Center in recent years and pledged to ensure programs are maintained.

Finance Committee members said routing receipts through the general fund provides the board greater flexibility to allocate resources to priorities such as the Child Advocacy Center, veterans’ court and drug court rather than locking money into multiple restricted accounts that can accumulate without being accessible for local priorities.

The ordinance includes detailed distributions for numerous case categories and assessments mandated by state statute. Examples in the ordinance text include a $314 filing in Schedule 1 where $45 is retained by the clerk for court automation and related funds, $19 is remitted to the State Treasurer for statewide purposes, and $250 is remitted to the county treasurer for local court filing costs and law library support.

The board adopted the ordinance by roll call without recorded opposition. Members said the county will monitor revenue and budget impacts as the new schedules take effect July 1 and will work to ensure continued funding for victim services and court-related programs.