(a) In all juvenile, traffic, criminal, and quasi-criminal cases in the juvenile, district, circuit, and municipal courts in Autauga, Chilton, and Elmore Counties, a docket fee, hereinafter referred to as a solicitor’s fee, shall be assessed in each case. The fees, when collected, shall be distributed monthly as follows: One dollar of the fees assessed in each case shall be distributed to the office of the circuit clerk in the county where collected and the remainder to the Solicitor’s Fund or District Attorney’s Fund in the county where the fee is collected or to the fund that may be hereafter prescribed by law for the solicitor’s fee. The solicitor’s fee shall be in an amount equal to all docket fees or court costs which are assessed upon an adjudication of guilt in a criminal case and distributed to the Fair Trial Tax Fund.
Terms Used In Alabama Code 45-1-80.02
Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(b) The solicitor’s fee shall be collected in all criminal cases where the defendant is adjudged guilty, a bond forfeited, a penalty imposed, or where there is issued any alias or capias warrant of arrest. The solicitor’s fee shall be in addition to and not in lieu of any other fees or costs. The solicitor’s fee shall not be waived or remitted unless the defendant proves to the reasonable satisfaction of the sentencing judge that the defendant is not capable of paying the fee within the reasonably foreseeable future.(c) The solicitor’s fee may be expended, as the district attorney sees fit, for the payment of any and all expenses incurred by the district attorney for law enforcement and in the discharge of the duties of the office. That portion of the fees earmarked for the office of the circuit clerk may be expended in the county where collected at the request of the circuit clerk for any lawful purpose.
