The clerks must collect a $25 nonrefundable fee in covered civil domestic-violence cases and in specified criminal violence cases, and the parish governing authority must use and audit the collected funds as directed.
§2106. Particular courts; nonrefundable fee; assessment and disposition A. In addition to all other fees and costs now or hereafter provided by law, the clerk of court of the City Court of East St. Tammany and the clerk of the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court, St. Tammany Parish, except as otherwise provided by law and subject to the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure Article 5181 et seq., shall collect from every person filing any type of civil suit or proceeding involving domestic violence a nonrefundable fee of twenty-five dollars per filing. B. In each criminal proceeding, involving family violence as defined in R.S. 46:2121.1, simple or third degree rape, forcible or second degree rape, aggravated or first degree rape, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, simple battery, aggravated kidnapping, simple kidnapping, or false imprisonment, or any attempt to commit the aforementioned crimes, a nonrefundable fee of twenty-five dollars shall be collected by the clerk of the City Court of East St. Tammany and the clerk of the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court, St. Tammany Parish, which shall be in addition to all other fines, costs, or forfeitures lawfully imposed. If the defendant is found guilty and placed on probation, the court shall, as a condition of probation require the defendant to pay the additional fee at the time the defendant is placed on probation. If the sentence of the court is incarceration, the fee shall be collected at the time of imposition of sentence. C. The clerks of the respective courts shall remit all funds collected pursuant to this Section to the parish governing authority of the parish of St. Tammany to be deposited into a special account. All monies in this account shall be used solely for the purposes of contracting with Safe Harbor, The Caring Center, or any other local nonprofit organization which provides shelter for battered women and homeless women and their children in the parish. The parish governing authority shall cause to be conducted annually an audit of the funds and the books and accounts relating thereto and shall file the same with the office of the legislative auditor where it shall be available for public inspection. Acts 1992, No. 1102, §1; Acts 2006, No. 755, §1; Acts 2015, No. 184, §3; Acts 2020, No. 205, §1, eff. June 11, 2020.