Some Additional Thoughts on the New Cost and Fine Waiver Procedures

With the work of the court system picking up steam after its holiday pause—perhaps with an additional interruption for winter weather in some parts of the state (stay safe, everyone)—questions are rolling in about the new notice and hearing procedures for waivers and remissions of costs, fines, and restitution. I wrote about the new provisions here. To recap, the law requires a court to give at least 15 days notice and an opportunity for certain parties to be heard before remitting any restitution or waiving or remitting any cost or fine. The amended statutes require the court to send the notices by first-class mail. These provisions have received considerable attention in North Carolina and some national coverage, like this Christmas-day piece in The Atlantic. When I last wrote about these laws it was unclear what sort of system-wide approach, if any, the Judicial Branch might take in seeking to comply with them. Since then, the Administrative Office of the Courts has issued a memo (linked in this WRAL article, among other places) describing a suggested approach for complying with the revised cost and fine waiver procedure in G.S. 7A-304. (Nobody seems to have much of an issue with the restitution remission provision.) In a nutshell, the suggested approach is for the AOC to send a monthly general notice to all state and local government entities that might be directly affected by waivers or remissions. It informs them that costs and fines might be waived or remitted, and that, under the new [...]