28-177. Court procedures; fees; authorized only by legislative enactment; judicial branch surcharge fund, abolished; judicial branch docket fee fund; authorized uses of moneys credited to fund. (a) Except as provided in this section and K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 28-178, and amendments thereto, the fees established by legislative enactment shall be the only fee collected or moneys in the nature of a fee collected for court procedures. Such fee shall only be established by an act of the legislature and no other authority is established by law or otherwise to collect a fee. Court procedures shall include docket fees, filing fees or other fees related to access to court procedures. On and after July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2019, the supreme court may impose an additional charge, not to exceed $26.50 per fee or the amount established by the applicable statute, whichever amount is less, to fund the costs of non-judicial personnel.

(b) Such additional charge imposed by the court pursuant to K.S.A. 8-2107, 8-2110, 22-2410, 28-170, 28-172a, 59-104, 60-2001, 60-2203a, 61-2704, 61-4001 and 65-409 and K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 21-6614, 23-2510, 28-178, 28-179, 32-1049a, 38-2215, 38-2312 and 38-2314, and amendments thereto, shall be remitted to the state treasurer in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 75-4215, and amendments thereto. Upon receipt of each such remittance, the state treasurer shall deposit the entire amount in the state treasury to the credit of the judicial branch docket fee fund, which is hereby created in the state treasury.

(c) Moneys credited to the judicial branch docket fee fund shall not be expended for compensation of judges or justices of the judicial branch.

(d) All expenditures from the judicial branch docket fee fund shall be made in accordance with appropriation acts and upon warrants of the director of accounts and reports issued pursuant to vouchers approved by the chief justice of the Kansas supreme court or by a person or persons designated by the chief justice.

(e) Expenditures may be made from the judicial branch docket fee fund to provide services and programs for the purpose of educating and training judicial branch officers and employees, administering the training, testing and education of municipal judges as provided in K.S.A. 12-4114, and amendments thereto, and for educating and training municipal judges and municipal court and support staff, including official hospitality. The judicial administrator is hereby authorized to fix, charge and collect fees for such services and programs. Such fees may be fixed to cover all or part of the operating expenditures incurred in providing such services and programs, including official hospitality. All fees received for such purposes and programs, including official hospitality, shall be deposited in the state treasury in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 75-4215, and amendments thereto, and shall be credited to the judicial branch docket fee fund.

(f) On the effective date of this act:

(1) The director of accounts and reports shall transfer all moneys in the judicial branch surcharge fund to the judicial branch docket fee fund;

(2) all liabilities of the judicial branch surcharge fund existing prior to that date are hereby imposed on the judicial branch docket fee fund; and

(3) the judicial branch surcharge fund is hereby abolished.

History: L. 2006, ch. 215, § 1; L. 2009, ch. 116, § 16; L. 2010, ch. 62, § 8; L. 2011, ch. 87, § 8; L. 2012, ch. 66, § 8; L. 2013, ch. 125, § 8; L. 2014, ch. 82, § 29; L. 2015, ch. 81, § 14; L. 2017, ch. 80, § 10; July 1.

Section was amended twice in the 2011 session, see also 28-177a.

L. 2014, ch. 82, was held to be an invalid enactment, see Solomon v. State, 303 K. 512, 364 P.3d 536 (2015).