Clerk of courts briefed board on new court‑fee law, potential county revenue impact

The county clerk of courts told the Richland County Public Safety Committee that Governor Ivers signed Assembly Bill 320, which the clerk said will appear in state law as 2025 Wisconsin Act 179 and will increase a variety of court fees used to support county court operations.

The clerk explained that the legislation targets fees retained by counties in the circuit‑court system and will require the state director of courts to submit a report calculating inflationary adjustments beginning in 2032 and every six years thereafter. "It becomes 2025 Wisconsin Act 179," the clerk said, adding that the law also affects certain probate fees and that CCAP (the circuit court automation program) is working on software updates so the courts charge the correct fees by effective dates.

The clerk provided a rough local estimate of the revenue impact, saying current county modeling suggests the change could recover roughly "between 80% and 110% of the increase that the counties received from the state budget increase to the circuit court cost appropriation" (a forecasting range presented for preliminary budgeting). The clerk said the programming work for fee changes and date logic is under way, and that the county should not expect immediate systemwide changes but rather a phased implementation tied to CCAP updates. The clerk asked for time in the summer to present a fuller briefing to the new county board and to cover access‑to‑court messaging for constituents.

Committee members asked about timing; the clerk said full operational impacts likely will not be visible in 2026 and that more reliable estimates should be available for 2027 budget planning once CCAP completes programming and county modeling. The committee agreed to schedule a summer presentation so board members can review the court budget, service impacts and training materials.