Did Louisiana's new criminal-bond fee law require municipal police departments to collect the fee?

Plain-English summary

Monroe's police chief asked whether the newly enacted criminal-bond fee law required municipalities to collect fees when criminal bonds were posted. In Opinion 03-0343, the AG answered no: R.S. 15:85.1 directed the sheriff of each parish to collect the fee. The quoted provision assessed a $15 fee in connection with each criminal bond posted within a parish.

Currency note

The full issue date is not legible in the available official extract. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

What the opinion meant at issuance

Municipal police

The AG concluded that the new statute did not require municipalities to collect the criminal-bond fee. The opinion addressed the collection duty under this enactment.

Parish sheriffs

The statute as quoted assigned collection to the sheriff of each parish, from a person seeking release by criminal bond or that person's representative.

Common questions

Did a city police department have to collect this fee under R.S. 15:85.1?

No. The AG said the new law imposed the collection role on sheriffs.

Who did the quoted law tell to collect the fee?

The sheriff of each parish, from the person seeking release by bond or a designated representative.

Did the opinion decide every other fee that a municipality might charge?

No. It answered the specific question about collection under R.S. 15:85.1.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion quoted HB 1118 of the 2003 Regular Session, which enacted R.S. 15:85.1. Its collection sentence named the sheriff, and the AG used that wording to answer the municipal police chief's question.

Citations and references

• R.S. 15:85.1: criminal-bond fee and collection rule.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0343

Original opinion text

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. Box 94005
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
TEL: (504) 342-7013
ATTORNEY GENERAL
FAX: (504) 342-7335

~m~r 29, 2003
OPINION O3-O343

61 LAWS - GENERAL
Honorable Ron Schleuter
R.S. 15:85.1
New law pertaining to the collection of fees in connection with criminal Chief of Police bonds is related to the sheriffs and not municipalities.
Post Office Box 1581
Monroe, LA 71210-1581

Dear Chief Schleuter:

You ask if recently enacted R.S. 15:85.1 requires municipalities to collect fees in connection with criminal bonds. We conclude the statute relates only to the collection of fees by the sheriff. HB 1118 of the 2003 Louisiana Regular Session provides in pertinent part:

AN ACT to enact R.S. 15:85.1, relative to original bonds; to provide for a fee to be assessed in connection with every criminal bond posted; to provide for the collection of the fees; to provide for the distribution of the fee proceeds; to provide for the creation of a crime lab committee in each parish and to provide for its membership and duties; to provide for criteria in determining which persons may petition the court for a waiver or refund of the fees; and to provide for related matters.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:

Section 1. R.S. 15:85.1 is hereby enacted to read as follows:

LA R.S. 15:85.1

§85.1. Posting of criminal bond; fee assessed

A. (1) There shall be a fee in the amount of fifteen dollars assessed in connection with the issuance of every criminal bond posted within each parish. The fee shall be collected by the sheriff of each parish from envy person seeking release by means of a criminal bond, or their designated representative.

Page 2

Honorable Ron Schleuter
OPINION 03-0343
Page 2

Again, collection of the fee by the municipalities is not required by the new law.

Very truly yours,

RICHARD P. IEYO.UB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

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