The General Assembly has passed new legislation affecting court costs. The primary legislation affecting court costs is the 2011 budget bill, Session Law (S.L.) 2011-1452 (House Bill 200, Appropriations Act of 2011, referred to herein as the “Act”).
The Act is further amended by House Bill 22 (2011 Budget Technical Corrections), which was ratified on June 18, 2011, and presented to the Governor on June 20, 2011. House Bill 22 makes multiple changes to the court cost provisions of the Act, but as of the date of distribution of this memorandum and the attached chart of court costs, the Governor has not yet signed House Bill 22 into law. Because the legislature has adjourned for fewer than 30 days, if the Governor does not first sign or veto House Bill 22, it will become law without the Governor’s signature at the close of June 30, 2011.
In that event, House Bill 22’s changes to the Act will be effective July 1, 2011, the same day as the Act’s effective date for its court cost provisions. To date, the NCAOC has been given no indication that the Governor intends to veto House Bill 22. Consequently, this memo and the court cost chart were written with the assumption that House Bill 22 will become law, and incorporate House Bill 22’s provisions into the court costs information provided. If the Governor vetoes House Bill 22 subsequent to this memo’s publication, the NCAOC will distribute amended information on court costs.
For more information, visit http://www.nccourts.org/Courts/Trial/Costs/Default.asp