FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL

STATE OF FLORIDA

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No. 1D2022-2823 

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RASHA J. CUMMINGS,

Appellant,

v.

STATE OF FLORIDA,

Appellee.

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On appeal from the Circuit Court for the Fourteenth Judicial 

Circuit, Gulf County.

Devin D. Collier, Judge.

December 20, 2023

PER CURIAM.

Appellant raises two issues on appeal from his judgment and 

sentence for fleeing and attempting to elude a law enforcement 

officer with high speed or reckless driving. § 316.1935(3)(a), Fla. 

Stat. (2021). We affirm Issue I without comment. In Issue II, 

Appellant argues the trial court erred in presumptively denying 

his motion to correct sentencing errors regarding improperly 

assessed court fees and costs. We agree in part as discussed below.

Appellant argues the $100 cost of prosecution should not have 

been assessed because it was not requested by the State at 

sentencing. We recently held the State is not required to request 
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the mandatory cost of prosecution before the trial court may assess 

this cost. See Parks v. State, 48 Fla. L. Weekly D1524 (Fla. 1st DCA 

August 2, 2023). We affirm the $100 cost of prosecution in the 

judgment and sentence.

Appellant argues that the $150 public defender assistance fee 

was assessed in error because there was no proof supporting a fee 

more than the $100 minimum felony fee provided for in section 

938.29(1)(a), Florida Statutes. We agree. Section 938.29(1)(a) is 

clear that, “The court may set a higher amount upon a showing of 

sufficient proof of higher fees or costs incurred.” Appellant did not 

agree to this fee nor is there any evidence supporting the higher 

fee in the record. We reverse the $150 public defender assistance 

fee and remand to the trial court to assess the correct fee.

Appellant challenges the following as lacking the required 

statutory citation: $3 Law Enforcement Officer Radio System 

Trust Fund and $1 per month Florida First Step. “‘[I]t is improper 

to impose additional court costs without reference to statutory 

authority, or an explanation in the record as to what the additional 

costs represent.’” Williams v. State, 285 So. 3d 1003, 1005 (Fla. 1st 

DCA 2019) (quoting Bradshaw v. State, 638 So. 2d 1024, 1025 (Fla. 

1st DCA 1994)). We disagree with Appellant on the $3 Law 

Enforcement Officer Radio System Trust Fund as the authority for 

that cost, section 318.18(17), Florida Statutes, was referenced in 

the written judgment and sentence. We affirm the $3 Law 

Enforcement Officer Radio System Trust Fund cost.

We agree with the State’s concession that the $1 per month 

Florida First Step Act fee lacks proper statutory citation. Further, 

we find no support for assessment of this fee in the record. We also 

agree with the State’s concession that the $2 per month for

supervision pursuant to section 948.08, Florida Statutes, appears 

to be in error. We reverse the imposition of these fees and remand 

to the trial court for further consideration.

We AFFIRM Appellant’s conviction under section 

316.1935(3)(a), Florida Statutes. We REVERSE the aforementioned 

portions of the written judgment and sentence and REMAND to the 

trial court for further action consistent with this opinion.
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ROBERTS, KELSEY, and WINOKUR, JJ., concur.

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Not final until disposition of any timely and 

authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 

9.331.

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Jessica J. Yeary, Public Defender, and Tyler Kemper Payne,

Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Christina Day Piotrowski, 

Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.