"Collecting Authority" Defined; Payments to Fund From Fines and Bonds Collected in Criminal and Quasi-Criminal Cases; Duty of Collecting Authority to Record and Remit; Penalty for Late Payment

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Retirement and Pensions
  4. Superior Court Clerks' Retirement Fund of Georgia
  5. Revenues Collected From Fines, Bonds, and Fees
  6. "Collecting Authority" Defined; Payments to Fund From Fines and Bonds Collected in Criminal and Quasi-Criminal Cases; Duty of Collecting Authority to Record and Remit; Penalty for Late Payment

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  1. As used in this Code section, the term "collecting authority" means, without limitation, any county or state officer, including any judicial officer or employee, or any other person representing or acting on behalf of any court, the state, or a political subdivision of the state who in his or her capacity collects or receives fines or forfeitures as provided in this Code section.
  2. The sum of $2.00 shall be paid to the board from each fine collected and each bond forfeited and collected in any criminal or quasi-criminal case for violation of state law if the case is tried in any court of this state in which the clerk of such court is eligible for membership in this retirement fund. The collecting authority shall pay such amounts to the board each month or at such other times as the board may provide. Such amounts shall be due on the first day of the month following the month in which they were collected but shall be deemed timely if received by the board on or before the fifteenth day of the month; provided, however, that for purposes of calculating late payment penalties, the due date shall be the first day of the month. It shall be the duty of the collecting authority to keep accurate records of the amounts due the board. Such records may be audited by the board at any time. The sums remitted to the board under this Code section shall be used for the purposes provided for in this chapter.
  3. If the clerk or other collecting authority whose duty it is to collect and remit moneys to the fund under subsection (b) of this Code section shall fail to remit such moneys within 60 days of the date on which such remittal is due, such moneys shall be delinquent; and there shall be imposed, in addition to the principal amount due, a specific penalty in the amount of 5 percent of the principal amount per month for each month during which the funds continue to be delinquent, provided that such penalty shall not exceed a total of 25 percent of the principal due. In addition to such penalty, interest shall be charged on the delinquent moneys at the rate of 6 percent per annum from the date such moneys became delinquent until they are paid. All moneys which have not been paid to the fund within 60 days of the due date shall be delinquent. By affirmative vote of all members, the board, upon the payment of the delinquent moneys together with interest and for good cause shown, may waive the specific penalty otherwise charged under this subsection.

(Ga. L. 1952, p. 238, § 8; Ga. L. 1962, p. 67, § 1; Ga. L. 1966, p. 222, § 2; Ga. L. 1969, p. 688, § 1; Ga. L. 1970, p. 177, § 1; Ga. L. 1976, p. 729, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2348, § 1; Ga. L. 2002, p. 470, § 4; Ga. L. 2008, p. 722, § 2/SB 460; Ga. L. 2009, p. 824, § 2/HB 487.)

The 2008 amendment, effective July 1, 2008, added subsection (a); redesignated former subsections (a) and (b) as present subsections (b) and (c), respectively; in subsection (b), substituted "month" for "quarter" in the second sentence, and added the third sentence; and, in subsection (c), substituted "subsection (b)" for "subsection (a)" near the beginning of the first sentence, and substituted "All moneys" for "After April 1, 1966, all moneys" at the beginning of the third sentence.

The 2009 amendment, effective May 5, 2009, substituted "$2.00" for "$1.75" near the beginning of the first sentence of subsection (b).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Provisions of this statute are mandatory and the appropriate amount must be paid regardless of whether the clerk is a member of the retirement fund. 1952-53 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 324 (see O.C.G.A. § 47-14-50).

Contributions to fund are not "costs."

- Contributions to the Superior Court Clerks' Retirement Fund and the Sheriffs' Retirement Fund are not embraced within the word "costs" as that term is used in the setting of criminal proceedings; therefore, such contributions are statutorily created charges against the fine itself. 1972 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 72-29.

Records of amounts due to fund.

- Records of amounts due the Superior Court Clerks' Retirement Fund must be kept by the collecting authority, i.e., the court. This duty will usually be assigned to the clerk of the court. 1970 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U70-85.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Contributions made with fines and fees were county funds.

- Court fines and forfeitures were county funds and, thus, the payment of those monies into a court clerk's state retirement plan were contributions made with county funds; the county's determination to exclude the clerk from the county's pension plan, based on the county's decision that it should contribute to each constitutional officer's retirement plan only once, did not violate equal protection since it was based on a rational distinction between the various constitutional officers, and furthered the legitimate governmental purpose of equalizing the county's pension contributions and fostering financial responsibility in the funding of the county's retirement plans. Morgan County Bd. of Comm'rs v. Mealor, 280 Ga. 241, 626 S.E.2d 79 (2006).


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