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Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, upon expiration of the term of probation or parole supervision, if any portion of a fee prescribed by § 39-13-705, § 40-28-201, § 40-35-303 or § 40-39-305 remains unpaid and has not been waived by the department or sentencing judge, then the department or its agent may convert the unpaid balance into a civil judgment in accordance with the procedure set forth in this section.
Within the twelve-month period following the expiration of the term of probation or parole supervision, the department or its agent may file a certified copy of the parole certificate, probation certificate or other court document that imposes a statutory duty to pay a supervision fee, along with an affidavit certifying the amount of fees that remain unpaid with an appropriate civil court having jurisdiction over the total amount of the unpaid balance.
When the department or its agent files a certified copy of the parole certificate, probation certificate or other court document imposing a statutory supervision fee, and the affidavit certifying the unpaid balance with the civil court, the department or its agent shall have the defendant personally served in accordance with the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. The service shall give notice to the defendant of the department's intent to convert the unpaid balance of supervision fees to a civil judgment, include a copy of the documents filed with the court evidencing the duty to pay the supervision fees, and include a statement as to the amount of unpaid fees the department alleges the defendant still owes.
Upon being served, the defendant shall be permitted to file an answer in accordance with the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure.
The department may retain an agent to collect, institute proceedings to collect or establish an in-house collection procedure to collect unpaid supervision fees as provided for in this section. If an agent is used, the department shall utilize state competitive bidding procedures to select and retain the agent.
The agent may be paid an amount not exceeding forty percent (40%) of the sums collected as consideration for collecting the unpaid fees.
The written contract between the agent and the department shall include a provision specifying whether the agent may institute an action to collect the unpaid supervision fees in a judicial proceeding.