FEES; SERVICE OF PROCESS S.B. 226 (S-2):
SUMMARY OF SUBSTITUTE BILL
IN COMMITTEE
Senate Bill 226 (Substitute S-2)
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Revised Judicature Act to do the following:
-- Establish $5 fees for a global positioning service verification and for a photo verification requested by a plaintiff.
-- Amend the schedule of process service fees to reflect the current amounts.
Section 2559 of the Act establishes a schedule of fees allowed for process or papers served out of a court in Michigan by a person authorized to serve process under the Act or by Supreme Court rule.
In addition to the fees currently authorized by Section 2559, the bill would include the following in the fee schedule:
-- $5, for each global positioning service verification requested by a plaintiff.
-- $5, for each photo verification requested by a plaintiff.
(The bill also would increase by $3 various other fees authorized under Section 2559, but those changes would reflect the amounts of the current fees. The fees were last increased by Public 558 of 2012, which provided for the listed fees to be increased by $1 on October 1 in 2013, 2014, and 2015.)
The bill would take effect 90 days after its enactment.
MCL 600.2559 Legislative Analyst: Jeff Mann
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have no fiscal impact on State government but could provide additional revenue for local sheriffs' departments by adding fees for various services provided, to help offset costs.
According to the Oakland County Sheriff's Department, the new fees for global positioning service verification and photo verification would help pay for services that the department felt obligated to provide at no additional fee, despite its responsibility to pay a licensing fee for the software to provide those services.
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.