Section 45-42-82.49 Program Requirements; Termination from Program Liability for Costs and Fees.
This section requires the district attorney, offender, and court to take specified steps when an offender is accepted into pretrial diversion, and it keeps the offender liable for costs and fees even if the program is completed or terminated.
(a) Upon acceptance of an offender into the pretrial diversion program, the district attorney and the offender shall submit the offender’s written application together with the offender’s statement of facts, the district attorney’s acceptance of the offender, and the agreement between the district attorney and the offender to the court presiding over the offender’s affected case. The offender shall also enter a plea of guilty to the charge or charges involved. (b) Upon acceptance of the agreement, the court shall withdraw and file the case or otherwise place it on an administrative docket until such time as the court has been notified that the offender has either fulfilled the terms of the agreement or has been terminated from the program. However, acceptance of the plea of guilty and imposition of punishment by the court shall be deferred until and unless the offender is terminated from the program. In the event the offender is terminated from the program, the court shall accept the plea of guilty and impose appropriate punishment in the same manner as with any plea of guilty or finding of guilt. (c) Upon successful completion of the program by the offender, the district attorney shall notify the court in writing of that fact together with a request that the case be dismissed whereupon the court shall enter an order to that effect and the offender shall be discharged. (d) Regardless of whether the offender successfully completes the program or is terminated from the program, the offender is liable for and shall pay any and all court costs and fees, restitution, victim’s compensation fund assessment, and any and all other fees and assessments in the same manner as if the offender had not applied for entry into the program and had been found guilty of the offense involved. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no such costs, fees, restitution, or assessments shall be waived or remitted, absent an express agreement to that effect between the district attorney and the offender, without a finding that the offender does not have the reasonable ability to pay within the reasonably foreseeable future.