No Authority for Immediate Civil Judgments on Criminal Costs and Fines

The practice of ordering a civil judgment for costs and fines at the outset of a criminal case has run its course. That’s the rule from State v. Santana, ___ N.C. App. ___ (2025), which I summarized earlier in the week. To recap, the defendant in Santana was convicted of drug trafficking and other offenses and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine. As is often the case for defendants sentenced to active time, the trial court ordered the fine and other costs as a civil judgment. The defendant argued on appeal that the trial court had no authority to docket the money immediately as a civil judgment. The court of appeals agreed. Under G.S. 15A-1365, costs and fines can be docketed civilly upon default. A judgment docketed at that time “becomes a lien on the real estate of the defendant in the same manner as do judgments in civil actions.” G.S. 15A-1365. But, the court held in Santana, they cannot be docketed immediately. Had the General Assembly intended to authorize immediate docketing of fines and costs, the court said, “it could have done so as it did with attorney’s fees.” Slip op. at 7 (citing G.S. 7A-455(b)). The court noted that the fine the trial court ordered was due immediately (as costs and fines are, unless otherwise specified by the court, G.S. 15A-1362(b)). But the trial court erred by docketing a civil judgment for it without first determining that the defendant had defaulted on it. The court added that the defendant [...]