§ 16-10-209 - Court clerk -- Activities and clerical duties.
16-10-209. Court clerk -- Activities and clerical duties.
The following activities and clerical duties relating to court functions shall be required of all court clerks:
(1) Collection, receipt, and deposit procedures. (A) All receipt books must be prenumbered by the printer, and a printer's certificate or other evidence shall be furnished to the court clerk, which shall be made available for inspection.
(B) All void or spoiled receipts must be accounted for by attaching the original copy of the receipt to the duplicate copy of the receipt in the receipt book.
(C) (i) For those checks forwarded with the arrest reports, the receipt shall be issued in the name of the police department, marshal's office, or sheriff's office.
(ii) For those receipts issued at court date, the court clerk shall issue such receipts in the name of the defendant, regardless of who paid the bond or fine or who collected the bond or fine.
(D) A prenumbered receipt shall be issued for all moneys collected, and such receipts shall be deposited intact daily into the separate bank account maintained by the court clerk.
(E) (i) The bank deposit slips prepared by the court clerk shall contain the range or receipt numbers evidencing such collections.
(ii) Additionally, the receipts issued shall be reconciled with the monthly bank deposits.
(F) A bank reconciliation shall be made at the end of each month, and any balance remaining in the bank account shall be identified with receipt numbers for cases not yet adjudicated and the payments made on all unpaid individual time accounts; and
(G) The court clerk may maintain separate bank accounts for city cases and for county cases;
(2) Preparation and submission of court report. (A) The court report shall contain columns for the following information:
(i) The uniform traffic ticket number;
(ii) The defendant's name;
(iii) The nature of the offense;
(iv) The name of arresting officer;
(v) The court docket number;
(vi) The disposition or date continued;
(vii) The receipt number;
(viii) The total fine and costs collected;
(ix) The fine;
(x) The costs itemized, including all prosecuting attorney's fees;
(xi) The bond refund amount;
(xii) The bond refund check number; and
(xiii) The installment payment amount.
(B) The court clerk at each court date shall prepare the court report from the arrest report supplied by the police department, marshal's office, or sheriff's office.
(C) At the end of each court date, the court clerk shall complete the court report for the court date and total the dollar amounts contained in the court report.
(D) The court reports prepared each court date shall be summarized at least monthly.
(E) The court clerk shall make a direct monetary settlement on or before the tenth day of the next-following month with each of the following:
(i) The city treasurer;
(ii) The county treasurer;
(iii) The prosecuting attorney;
(iv) If applicable, the treasurer of the policemen's pension and relief fund and the district judge and clerk's retirement fund;
(v) The Administration of Justice Funds Section of the Office of Administrative Services of the Department of Finance and Administration; and
(vi) Any other state agency or entity which receives fines or fees assessed by the court and collected pursuant to law.
(F) The court clerk, in conjunction with the making of the monetary settlement in subdivision (2)(E)(ii) [repealed] of this section, will make reports in quadruplicate of the applicable individual court reports and distribute the reports in the following manner:
(i) One (1) copy to the mayor;
(ii) One (1) copy to the county clerk;
(iii) One (1) copy to the Administrative Office of the Courts; and
(iv) One (1) copy to be retained by the clerk and made available for inspection;
(3) Minimum bookkeeping requirements. (A) (i) The court clerk shall maintain a separate cash receipts and disbursements journal for city cases and county cases.
(ii) The journal shall consist of sufficient columns in order to properly classify all moneys receipted as to their proper nature, e.g., fines, administration of justice fund, etc.
(iii) The journal shall also contain sufficient columns to properly classify all moneys disbursed as to their proper nature, e.g., general fund, county treasurer, bond refunds, etc.
(B) The court clerk shall total and balance the receipts and disbursements journal monthly and establish and maintain year-to-date totals monthly.
(C) (i) The court clerk shall prepare monthly bank reconciliations for each court bank account.
(ii) The cash receipts and disbursements journal shall be utilized in effecting the bank reconciliations.
(D) Copies of bank reconciliations shall be furnished to the court's presiding judge, county judge, and mayor;
(4) Bond refunds. (A) All bond refunds shall be made only upon the authorization of the presiding judge and shall be indicated as such on the court docket.
(B) (i) All bond refunds shall be made only by a check drawn on the court's bank account.
(ii) Additionally, the check shall indicate the court docket number for authorization.
(C) The court clerk shall enter all bond refunds on the applicable court report;
(5) Installment payments. (A) Installment payments shall be allowed only upon the authorization of the presiding judge and shall be indicated as such on the court docket.
(B) (i) The court clerk shall establish and maintain individual installment payment account ledger cards, with a duplicate copy of the ledger card being furnished to and maintained by the county or city official, agency, or department designated under 16-13-709 as primarily responsible for the collection of fines assessed in district courts and city courts.
(ii) The ledger cards shall contain the following minimum information:
(a) Name of the individual;
(b) Court docket number and court date;
(c) Nature of the violation;
(d) Total fine and costs assessed;
(e) Receipt number, date, and amount of payment; and
(f) Unpaid balance of fine, fees, and costs.
(C) The county or city official, agency, or department designated under 16-13-709 as primarily responsible for the collection of fines assessed in district courts and city courts shall be responsible for collecting all installment payments and shall enter all collected installment payments on each applicable arrest report.
(D) (i) The court clerk shall establish and maintain a control total for installment payments, which is a summary of all unpaid individual installment payment accounts.
(ii) The control total shall be reconciled monthly with the individual installment payment accounts.
(E) (i) The court clerk shall furnish the county or city official, agency, or department designated under 16-13-709 as primarily responsible for the collection of fines assessed in district courts and city courts and the presiding judge monthly with a list of all unpaid installment payment accounts for which a payment has not been received within the past thirty (30) days.
(ii) The presiding judge shall then take the necessary action deemed appropriate in the circumstances.
(F) (i) (a) All installment payments shall initially be deemed to be collections of court costs until the costs have been collected in full, with any remaining installment payments representing collections of fines.
(b) The court clerk shall prepare at least monthly a separate court report for all installment payments made on accounts.
(c) The monetary settlement for this separate court report shall be made on or before the tenth day of the next-following month.
(ii) A municipal or county governing body may provide by appropriate municipal or county legislation an alternative method of installment payment allocation as follows:
(a) All installment payments shall be allocated fifty percent (50%) to court costs and fifty percent (50%) to fines. Whenever either court costs or fines are fully paid, all remaining installment payments shall be allocated to remaining amounts due;
(b) The court clerk shall prepare at least monthly a separate court report for all installment payments made on accounts. The monetary settlement for this separate court report shall be made on or before the tenth day of the next-following month; and
(6) Reconciliation of completed ticket books to arrest report. (A) The court clerk shall reconcile on a quarterly basis on or before the fifteenth day of the month following the end of the calendar quarter the individual tickets in the completed ticket book to the individual tickets as reflected on the arrest reports.
(B) For any discrepancies noted in the reconciliation in subdivision (6)(A) of this section, the court clerk shall prepare a written list and present this list to the court's judge for his or her appropriate action.