Sec. 46-51. - Authority.

This article is created pursuant to the provisions of F.S. §§ 28.2401, 28.241 and 34.041, which authorize the County to impose, by ordinance, service charges and/or fees in probate matters and in civil actions filed in the circuit and County courts to provide and maintain a legal aid office.

(Ord. No. 98-57, § 1)

Sec. 46-52. - Title and citation.

This article shall be known and cited as the "Collier County Legal Aid Office Funding Ordinance".

(Ord. No. 98-57, § 2)

Sec. 46-53. - Purpose and intent.

It is the purpose of this article to provide funding, as authorized by Florida Statutes, to assist the Collier County Bar Association in the establishment and maintenance of a legal aid office for qualified indigent residents of Collier County. It is the intent of this article that the role of the Collier County Board of County Commissioners (hereinafter referred to as "Board") shall be limited to being a partial funding source for the legal aid office to be established by the efforts of the Collier County Bar Association (hereinafter "CCBA"). The Board shall not supervise, nor control said legal aid office nor shall the Board supervise the services provided under said program.

(Ord. No. 98-57, § 3)

Sec. 46-54. - Collection and use of funds.

(a)

As partial funding for the legal aid office to be established by the CCBA, the Board hereby directs the clerk to collect, effective July 1, 1998, the following service charges and/or filing fees pursuant to the authority contained in F.S. §§ 28.401, 28.241 and 34.041:

1)

A service charge of $10.00 in probate matters for any party instituting formal administration, guardianship, ancillary curatorship, or conservatorship proceedings in Collier County. Such charges shall be in addition to other lawful fees allowed to be charged by the clerk and shall be for the purpose of providing and maintaining a legal aid office in Collier County.

2)

A fee of $10.00 for each civil action filed in the Circuit Court of Collier County. Such fee shall be in addition to other lawful fees charged by the clerk and shall be for the purpose of providing and maintaining a legal aid office in Collier County. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, and pursuant to F.S. § 741.30, the total charges and fees for any court to issue a domestic violence injunction under F.S. chs. 741 or 748, shall not exceed $50.00.

3)

A service charge of $10.00 to be paid by the plaintiff in any civil action or proceeding in Collier County Court. Such charges shall be in addition to other lawful fees allowed to be charged by the clerk and shall be for the purpose of providing and maintaining a legal aid office in Collier County.

(b)

There is hereby created an account and/or fund for the Board of County Commissioners known as the Collier County Legal Aid Office Account/Fund. Said account/fund shall be administered by the Clerk of the Circuit Court and shall be used to deposit service charges and/or fees collected pursuant to this article. The funds provided by this article and deposited into this account/fund shall be expended only for the purposes of establishing, staffing, equipping, furnishing and operating a legal aid office for the representation of qualified indigent residents of Collier County. A budget for expenditures of these funds shall be established annually by the Board.

(c)

All unexpended funds in the Collier County Legal Aid Office Account/Fund at the end of each fiscal year shall be carried forward in said account/fund to the next successive fiscal year and expended exclusively for the legal aid office as set forth in this article.

(Ord. No. 98-57, § 4)

Secs. 46-55—46-70. - Reserved.