Court costs money.
To help make it go, courts charge fees, fines, taxes and jail costs to people who file suit or appear before judges.
Many times, those people can’t afford to pay off those costs. Outstanding payments can stack up and stretch on for years.
“Sometimes you’re chasing after amounts that are not going to be very collectible,” Juvenile Court Clerk Gary Behler said.
A bill that’s set to go before the General Assembly today aims to make that collection easier. Co-sponsored by Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, House Bill 52, which in the Senate is known as Senate Bill 19, would allow criminal or general sessions court clerks to accept a partial lump-sum payment of outstanding court costs.