Other costs in that chart also might apply, like an additional fee if you previously failed to appear during the course of the case, daily fees to reimburse the county for any days spent in jail before your case was disposed, and additional fees for conviction of certain kinds of offenses like impaired driving or having improper equipment on a motor vehicle. The “Total” on the court costs chart is only a portion of the total monetary obligations that might be imposed in the court’s judgment upon conviction when you are convicted of a crime or infraction.
Why does the clerk say I have to pay an amount much higher than that? Your cost chart for criminal cases lists a “Total” costs for my case. If you were appointed an attorney by the court and are not convicted of any offense, then you will not be required to repay the State for the attorney’s services.
Note that if you hired an attorney to represent you, you still will be responsible for any payment agreement you made with the attorney, but that is an obligation to the attorney, not to the court. Court costs are assessed against a defendant only if you are convicted of a crime or infraction (which is called a “finding of responsibility” for an infraction, but this FAQ uses “conviction” to cover both types of offense). What costs will I have to pay if I am found not guilty? Criminal And Infraction Costs (including traffic tickets) The remainder is distributed to various government agencies at the State and local levels, like to county governments to fund courthouse facilities or to State and local law enforcement agencies to fund some of their operations. The largest share of court costs goes to the State’s General Fund, to be spent by the General Assembly however they think appropriate. Out of the total court costs for each type of case – criminal, civil, estates, and special proceedings – the General Assembly allotted $4.00 to stay with the courts to help pay for the courts’ technology. Although several of the statutes about court costs say that the money is “for the support of the General Court of Justice,” most of the money collected does not stay with the courts and is not reserved for the courts’ use. Just like the General Assembly sets the amount of court costs in North Carolina, it also decides where the money goes. How does the court spend the costs that it collects?
The courts are required by law to collect the costs enacted by the General Assembly, though in some cases, the law gives court officials limited discretion to waive or reduce those costs or to allow a party to delay their payment. North Carolina’s state constitution gives authority over court costs to our legislature, the General Assembly. The courts in North Carolina do not decide the amounts of court costs. How did the court decide the amount of costs for my case?