Michigan’s Trial Courts Have a Major Funding Problem – Michigan Capitol Confidential

Michigan’s Trial Courts Have a Major Funding Problem – Michigan Capitol Confidential
The statutory scheme that keeps them running is set to expire in 2020 – and there’s no back up plan in place yet

It’s past time for Michigan to pass some legislation to address the problem of funding its county courts.
If lawmakers do nothing, counties will have to scramble to come up with hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep their local courthouses open.
Michigan’s county courts recoup their operating expenses by passing their expenses on to convicted criminal defendants in a user fee model. 
This model is problematic because it’s a poor business practice (courts recoup only a fraction of what they charge) that is also probably unconstitutional. Moreover, it’s about to get thrown out, because the statute that authorizes courts to fund themselves this way will expire in 2020...

Depending on User Fees: A Failed Business Model

Summary of Circuit Court Cost Data, 2015

Costs Imposed by Average County	$311,612.82
Costs Imposed in Average Case	$464.61
Costs Collected by Average County	$76,414.33
Average Amount Collected	$150.08
Average Number of Cases with Costs	575
Average Percent of Costs Collected	24%

Summary of Circuit Court Cost Data, 2016

Costs Imposed by Average County	$334,645.10
Costs Imposed in Average Case	$432.18
Costs Collected by Average County	$112,124.90
Average Amount Collected	$206.24
Average Number of Cases with Costs	586
Average Percent of Costs Collected	51%

Read on.