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Thursday, November 02, 2006

Ind. Courts - Audit of East Chicago City Court raises legality of community service in lieu of paying fees

This Indiana state board of accounts (SBOA) audit, filed Oct. 30, 2006, raises this issue re the City Court of East Chicago on page 6:

The judge or probation officer will allow defendants to perform community service in lieu of paying user fees and administrative costs. The amount of type of community service to be performed is determined by the judge or probation offer on a case by case basis. There are no predetermined guidelines.

We cannot find authority for community service to be performed in lieu of paying fees.

Beginning on page 10 is the response of the legal advisor to Judge Sonya A. Morris. The response cites the Court of Appeals decision in Mueller v. State.

Mueller was the Nov. 16, 2005 Marion County pretrial diversion case, Jamie Mueller & Vicki Evans v. State of Indiana. For background, start with this ILB entry from that date. Mueller concludes:

A practice of requiring payment of a fee as an absolute condition of participation in a pretrial diversion program discriminates against indigent persons in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The trial court erred in concluding otherwise. We reverse and remand for further consideration of Mueller’s and Evans’s indigency, if necessary.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 2, 2006 01:00 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts