GA Code § 15-23-7 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 15 - Courts|Chapter 23 - Court-Connected Alternative Dispute Resolution|§ 15-23-7. Additional Costs in Civil Actions for Purposes of Providing Court-Connected or Court-Referred Alternative Dispute Resolution Programs

  For the purposes of providing court-connected or court-referred alternative dispute resolution programs, a sum not to exceed $10.00, in addition to all other legal costs, may be charged and collected in each civil action or case filed in the superior, state, probate, and magistrate courts and other courts within the county that have the same powers and jurisdiction as state or magistrate courts.   A case, within the meaning of this Code section, shall mean and be construed as any matter which is docketed upon the official dockets of the enumerated courts and to which a number is assigned, whether such matter is contested or not.   The amount, if any, to be collected in each case shall be fixed in an amount not to exceed the applicable amount set out in subsection (a) of this Code section by the chief judge of the superior court or, if there is no chief judge, by the superior court judge with the longest service, who shall, after advising and notifying the chairperson of the county governing authority, order the clerk to collect said fees and remit them to the treasurer of the county fund for the administration of alternative dispute resolution programs. No such additional costs shall be charged and collected unless the chief judge of the superior court or such chief judge's designee, or if there is no chief judge, the superior court judge with the longest service or such judge's designee first determines that a need exists for an alternative dispute resolution program in one or more of the courts within the county. The chief judge of the superior court or the designee of the chief judge or, if there is no chief judge, the superior court judge with the longest service or the designee of such judge may propose, as to a given court, the collection of an amount exceeding $7.00, but in no event to exceed the applicable amount set out in subsection (a) of this Code section; provided, however, that approval of the board member representing the affected court is necessary before imposition upon litigants of that court of costs authorized by this chapter exceeding $7.00.   The clerk of each and every such court in such counties shall collect such fees and remit the same to the treasurer of the board of the county in which the case was brought, on the first day of each month. No change in the amount collected pursuant to this Code section may be made within a period of 12 months from the date of a previous change.   Juvenile court supervision fees collected pursuant to Code Section 15-11-37 may be used for mediation services provided by court programs pursuant to this chapter.     (Code 1981, §15-23-7, enacted by Ga. L. 1993, p. 1529, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 874, § 4; Ga. L. 1998, p. 128, § 15; Ga. L. 2000, p. 20, § 4; Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 4-5/HB 242; Ga. L. 2014, p. 166, § 1/HB 438.)    The 2013 amendment,  effective January 1, 2014, substituted "Code Section 15-11-37" for "Code Section 15-11-71" in subsection (e). See editor's note for applicability.    The 2014 amendment,  effective July 1, 2014, substituted "$10.00" for "$7.50" near the middle of subsection (a).   Code Commission notes.   - Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1997, a comma was deleted following "each case" in the first sentence of subsection (c).   Editor's notes.   - Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 5-1/HB 242, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2014, and shall apply to all offenses which occur and juvenile proceedings commenced on and after such date. Any offense occurring before January 1, 2014, shall be governed by the statute in effect at the time of such offense and shall be considered a prior adjudication for the purpose of imposing a disposition that provides for a different penalty for subsequent adjudications, of whatever class, pursuant to this Act. The enactment of this Act shall not affect any prosecutions for acts occurring before January 1, 2014, and shall not act as an abatement of any such prosecutions."   OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL   Applicability of alternative dispute resolution fees to child support recovery actions.    - Civil actions brought pursuant to the Child Support Recovery Act, O.C.G.A. § 19-11-1 et seq., are subject to the fee imposed under O.C.G.A. § 15-23-7 to support alternative dispute resolution programs, but the state, the state's agencies, and political subdivisions should not be compelled to make advance payment of the fee which should ordinarily be collected from the child support obligor upon the conclusion of the action. 1994 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U94-7.