Civil Judgments for Court Costs

Recent changes to G.S. 7A-304 (discussed in my previous post) make it more likely that a judge will impose court costs on a defendant who receives an active sentence. Costs now apply by default in active punishment cases, and they may only be waived upon written findings of just cause. Not surprisingly, a frequently asked question of late is how those court costs can be collected from a defendant who is headed directly to jail or prison. One option is for the court to order the costs docketed as a civil judgment. Under G.S. 15A-1365 a judge may order a judgment docketed when a defendant has defaulted in payment of costs. The statute does not explicitly spell out a procedure for determining whether a defendant has defaulted, but undoubtedly some process is due. See Fuller v. Oregon, 417 U.S. 40 (1974); State v. Crews, 284 N.C. 427 (1974) (vacating a civil judgment ordered in a defendant’s absence without notice or hearing). There is some sense that the hearing procedure set out in G.S. 15A-1364, which allows the court to activate a suspended sentence or impose a contempt-like punishment for those who fail to pay fines or costs, also applies before a civil judgment is docketed. If that is the case, the court should give the defendant an opportunity to show that the default was not attributable to a “failure on his part to make a good faith effort to obtain the necessary funds for payment.” If the defendant does show a [...]