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Sub. H. B. No. 464As Reported by the Senate Judiciary--Civil Justice CommitteeAs Reported by the Senate Judiciary--Civil Justice Committee
124th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2001-2002 |
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REPRESENTATIVES Willamowski, Seitz, Grendell, Buehrer, Damschroder, Schmidt, Coates, Otterman, Hughes, Evans, Manning, Womer Benjamin, Barrett, Flannery, Latta, Salerno
SENATOR Austria
A BILL
To amend sections 1319.16, 2335.19, and 2335.24 and to
enact section 2335.241 of
the Revised
Code relative
to the terms of a
contract entered
into by a clerk
of a court with a
public agency or
private vendor
for the collections
of amounts due
under judgments
for costs, to the use of certain interest for
computerization of the clerk's office, and to
allowing a collection agency to collect from the
holder any charge imposed by a financial
institution on a negotiable instrument that has
been returned or dishonored.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 1319.16, 2335.19, and 2335.24 be
amended and section 2335.241 of
the Revised
Code be enacted to
read as follows:
Sec. 1319.16. (A) If a
collection agency has been
designated to collect on a check,
negotiable order of withdrawal,
share draft, or other negotiable
instrument that has been returned
or dishonored for any reason,
the collection agency may charge and
receive check collection
charges of not more than thirty dollars
or ten per cent of the
face amount of the instrument, whichever is
greater, and may charge and receive any charge imposed by a
financial institution upon the holder of the check, negotiable
order of withdrawal, share draft, or other negotiable instrument
that has been returned or dishonored for any reason. (B) A collection agency
that imposes a check collection
charge pursuant to division
(A) of this section shall send
written
notice by regular mail to the debtor at the debtor's
last known
address or at the address shown on the check or other
instrument.
The notice shall provide the amount of the check
collection charge
that has been imposed, and shall state that
the debtor is
responsible for paying the check collection charge
as well as the
value of the check or other instrument.
Sec. 2335.19. (A) On the rendition of judgment in any
cause
in any court, the costs of the
party recovering, together with the
party's debt or damages,
shall be carried into the party's
judgment, and the costs of the party against whom that
judgment is
rendered
shall be separately stated in the record or docket entry.
No party in whose
favor judgment for costs is rendered in a cause
may release, satisfy,
or
discharge, in whole or in part, any of
those costs,
unless that party
previously has paid those costs to
the clerk of
the court or unless those costs
have been paid to the
person entitled to those costs or have been legally
assigned or
transferred to that
party by the persons in whose names those
costs stand taxed
upon the record or
docket. (B) An entry of judgment that includes a grant of
judgment
for costs is an order that authorizes the clerk of the
court, in
accordance with division
(C) of this section, to issue a
certificate of judgment for all costs, including the total cost of
collection
of and any interest due on the judgment for costs,
including any interest due on the judgment for costs, any cost
incurred by the clerk in collecting the judgment for costs, and
any
fee a public agency or private vendor charges the clerk
pursuant
to a contract entered into under division (B)(1) of
section
2335.24 of the Revised Code for collecting the judgment
for costs
against the person who is
liable for the
payment of
those costs.
(C) The clerk of a court who
wishes to issue a certificate
of judgment for costs pursuant to
a judgment for costs shall
provide an itemized bill of fees and
costs, including the total
cost of collection of and any interest due on the
judgment for
costs, to the person who is liable for costs under the judgment,
either upon the request of the person as specified in section
2335.32 of the Revised
Code or without a request. If
the person
does not pay the fees and costs within thirty days after the
clerk
provides the itemized bill, the clerk shall send the
person a
first
notice requesting payment of the fees and costs as
stated in
the
itemized bill. If the person does not respond to
the
first
notice with
the full payment of the fees and costs within thirty
days, the
clerk
shall send the person a second notice requesting
payment of
the
fees and costs. If ninety days elapse from the
date that the
clerk provides the itemized bill and if the person
has not paid
the
full amount of the fees and costs pursuant to the
itemized
bill and
the notices, the clerk may issue a certificate
of
judgment for costs against
the person for the fees and costs.
After issuing a certificate of judgment for costs, the clerk may
assess the interest accrued from the date the clerk sends the
first notice requesting payment of the fees and costs as stated in
the itemized bill to the date of collection of the judgment at the
rate
established in section 1343.03 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 2335.24. (A) In all causes in any court, except as
otherwise
provided in
section 2969.23 of the Revised Code, costs
taxed and entered as provided
by sections 2335.18 to 2335.23 of
the Revised Code
may be collected by the process provided by those
sections. (B)(1) The clerk of a court may enter into contracts with
one or
more public agencies
or private vendors for the collection
of amounts due under judgments for
costs.
The contracts shall
comply with division (B)(2) of this section. The amounts may
include any interest that also is due on a judgment
for
costs.
Before entering into or renewing a contract of that nature, the
clerk
of a court
shall do all of the following: (a) Comply
with the provisions of sections 307.86 to 307.92
of the Revised Code
that pertain
to required competitive bidding.
For purposes of complying with those
sections, the clerk of the
court shall be considered the contracting
authority. (b) Obtain the approval of the terms of the contract by the
legislative authority associated with the court. (2)
A contract entered into or renewed by the clerk of a
court pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section shall include
all of the following terms: (a) A requirement that the contracting public agency or
private vendor must disburse the full amount collected by the
agency or vendor that is due under the
judgment for costs,
including any interest that is also due on
that judgment, to the
contracting clerk of a court for disbursement to the appropriate
entity as designated by the Revised Code; (b) A provision that prohibits the contracting public agency
or private vendor from deducting any fees or expenses that the
agency or vendor incurs in the collection of the judgment from the
amount collected that is due under the judgment including
interest. (3) As used in division (B) of this section, "legislative
authority" has the same meaning as in division (B) of section
1901.03 of the Revised Code, if the clerk of the court
involved is
the clerk of a municipal court, and means a board of county
commissioners, if
the clerk of the court involved is the clerk of
a
county court or a court of common pleas.
Sec. 2335.241. In order to provide funds to support the
effective use of computerization within the office of the clerk of
the court of common pleas, upon the request of the clerk of the
court of common pleas, the board of county commissioners, by a
resolution adopted on an annual basis prior to the thirty-first
day of January in any year, may authorize the clerk of court to
deposit in a fund for that purpose all or a portion of the
interest that is due on certificates of judgment issued by that
clerk pursuant to division (C) of section 2335.19 of the Revised
Code and that the clerk receives during that calendar year. The
clerk of the court shall pay to the county treasurer the interest
authorized by the resolution of the board of county commissioners
to be used for computerization within the office of the clerk.
The
treasurer shall deposit the money from this interest into any
fund
previously established under division (B)(1) of section
2303.021
of the Revised Code if a fund has been established for
funds
collected under that division. If a fund has not been
established
under that division, the treasurer shall deposit the
money from
this interest into a separate fund to be distributed
after
appropriation by the board of county commissioners in an
amount no
greater than the actual cost of a computerization
project
recommended by the clerk of the court of common pleas and
approved
by the board of county commissioners. The board of
county
commissioners, with the consent of the clerk of the court
of
common pleas, may determine at any time that the separate fund
established is no longer necessary and may terminate that fund.
Notwithstanding sections 5705.14 to 5705.16 of the Revised Code,
if that fund is terminated, the treasurer shall transfer any
moneys that remain in the fund to the general fund of the county.
Section 2. That existing sections 1319.16, 2335.19, and
2335.24 of the
Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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