Idaho Bills

Amends and adds to existing law to provide for distribution of payments in criminal cases.

Upon conviction, criminal defendants are normally assessed several different fees, fines, and sometimes restitution (hereinafter collectively referred to as "fees"). Defendants are rarely able to initially pay the total amount due, and thus, they submit partial payments to the clerk pursuant to an agreement with the court. These partial payments must be distributed per the various statutes governing each fee. However, many of the fee statutes set competing priorities for the order of disbursement because those statutes have been adoptedatvarioustimesbydifferentlegislatures. Asaresult,theSupremeCourthasbeenrequiredtoengage in statutory construction and enter an order establishing a priority. This bill seeks important policy decisions from the Legislature in order to establish a disbursement schedule in a single statute. This enactment is necessary to allow re-programming of the Court's Odyssey case management system to accomplish the Legislature's policy directives. In addition, organizing all twenty four (24) possible fees in a single statute will allow for better understanding of the effects of the distribution order. Many of these fees enure to the counties and are vital to support the important programs funded by the fees. Specifically, monthlysupervisionfeesformisdemeanorprobationandproblem-solvingcourtprogramssupportimportant countypublicsafetyefforts. Asaresult,thisbillsuggestplacingthosefeesthirdandfourthinthedistribution schedule in order to support those county efforts and sustain the current systems. This legislation also seeks to maintain the long-standing legislative policy of requiring defendants to submit fee payments to the clerk of the court in order to continue consistent and accountable tracking of all payments and ensure legislative policy is followed in distribution. Finally, wile this bill represents a suggested prioritization, it is offered with the understanding and intention that the important policy decisions by the Legislature may require r

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding when an answer must be filed for certain claims.

I.C. § 1-2303 currently requires defendants in small claims cases to file an answer within twenty (20) days of beingservedwithaclaim. Inaddition, theinstructionsserveduponsmallclaimdefendantsmustnotifythem that judgment may be entered against them if they fail to file an answer within the twenty (20) days. In order tocreateconsistencywiththecourt'seffortstosetfilingandservicerequirementsthatarecomputedonseven (7) day increments, this amendment will change the twenty (20) day answer and notification references to twenty-one (21) days.