TITLE 31

COUNTIES AND COUNTY LAW

CHAPTER 32

FEES

31-3221.  Payments to court by credit card or debit card. (1) The clerk of the district court may accept payment of a debt owed to the court by a credit card or debit card. Any person making payment on a debt owed to the court by a credit card or debit card shall be assessed an electronic payment convenience fee established by the supreme court, which shall include, among other costs, the amount charged the court by the issuer for the use of the card. This fee may also be paid by credit card or debit card and included in the transaction for the payment of the debt owed to the court. The electronic payment convenience fee shall be separate from the debt owed to the court and shall be used for the implementation of the provisions of this section. The debt owed to the court shall not be expunged, canceled, released, discharged or satisfied and any receipt or other evidence of payment shall be deemed conditional until the court has received final and unconditional payment of the full amount due from the financing agency or card issuer for the transaction. If an electronic payment once made is subsequently denied, revoked or otherwise canceled for any reason, and the payment is withdrawn from the court, the court may proceed as though payment had never been made.

(2)  Definitions. As used in this section:

(a)  "Cardholder" means the person or organization named on the face of a credit card or debit card to whom or for whose benefit the credit card or debit card is issued by an issuer.

(b)  "Credit card" means any instrument or device, whether known as a credit card or credit plate or by any other name, issued with or without a fee by an issuer for the use of the cardholder in obtaining money, property, goods, services or anything else of value on credit.

(c)  "Debit card" means any instrument or device, whether known as a debit card or by any other name, issued with or without a fee by an issuer for the use of the cardholder in depositing, obtaining or transferring funds.

(d)  "Debt owed to the court" means any assessment of fines, court costs, surcharges, penalties, fees, restitution, cash deposit of bail, moneys expended in providing counsel and other defense services to indigent defendants, or other charges that a court judgment has ordered to be paid to the court or that a party has agreed to pay in criminal or civil cases and includes any interest or penalty on such unpaid amounts as provided for in the judgment or by law.

(e)  "Issuer" means a business organization, financial institution or authorized agent of a business organization or financial institution that issues a credit card or debit card.

(3)  The supreme court may adopt rules as deemed appropriate for the administration of this section and may enter into contracts with an issuer or other organization to implement the provisions of this section.

History:

[31-3221, added 2003, ch. 287, sec. 1, p. 777; am. 2006, ch. 73, sec. 2, p. 226; am. 2014, ch. 190, sec. 8, p. 513; am. 2024, ch. 251, sec. 1, p. 886.]