Court employees hope fee increases keep them from losing jobs - WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

Going to court is going to cost you.

The goal is to save jobs and it's defendants in the courtroom who will pay the price.

Court costs statewide are going up--for civil, criminal, even traffic cases.

Court officials hope the money helps them save 500 jobs.

But will it be enough to also offset more possible cuts expected in the year to come?

Reba Guthrie rarely moves from her desk in the Montgomery Circuit Court Clerk's office.

"We're trying to keep up the work so that the public doesn't suffer," she says.

12 of Guthrie's fellow co-workers lost their jobs when proration forced cuts to the court system's budget.

"We don't see how we can lose any more people because we just cannot keep up the workload we're doing."

She hopes the legislature's passage of HB 688 will increase revenue enough to keep others from losing their jobs.

Here's the breakdown.

Court case filing costs will go up:

--$15 for small claims

--$26 for traffic cases

--$45 for civil cases

--$40 for criminal cases

--Juvenile cases and child support cases are not affected

"We're glad to see any money that's coming in. We don't know how that's going to effect us...how much," says Rob Sachar, the 15th Judicial Circuit's Court Administrator.

He knows his court will receive a portion of the additional revenue, but can't make plans when he isn't sure of the amount.

He also knows if cuts are made to the 2013 state budget the additional revenue won't go as far.

"If the Governor declares proration it could be a wash out. The additional money coming in may just cover the cuts that we take under the proration," adds Sachar.

The court fee increases received opposition from both Democrats and Republicans.

Some say increasing the costs makes it harder for people to have access to justice.

The increased fees are in effect until 2015.

The legislature will then determine if the economy is strong enough to take them back down to current levels.

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