Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

DUI Fines

I served 364 days for a DUI in FL. I was released with no probation, no conditions. The Clerk of courts says ''After ordering your court file from our storage facility and reviewing

the entire record, there is no place in the record which states that

your costs were waived in any way. The current amount which you owe is

$508.00.''

How can this be? Didn't the 364 days suffice for this offense? Can I get this waived if not? I am on very limited income and this amount would take me forever to pay. Do I have any recourse? Thank you in advance for your time and attention. Regards..


Asked on 2/02/05, 10:44 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Joseph Murray Joseph M. Murray, Esq.

Re: DUI Fines

The statute under which you were sentenced must be reviewed to determine whether these cost were imposed in addition to the jail sentence and to determine whether the judge who imposed the sentence had the discretionary authority to waive them. If so but no request for waiver was made, it must then be determined whether it is too late to submit a request for their waiver to the sentencing judge.

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Answered on 2/02/05, 8:26 pm
Richard Hornsby Richard E. Hornsby, P.A.

Re: DUI Fines

Court costs are mandatory and must be imposed. They are in addittion and on top of any sentence that you served. No where in your message did I see that the judge had ever waived your court costs, so why would you not think they would be imposed?

Generally you can not get court costs waived after they have been imposed, I would see if your county has a collections court. If so request a collections court hearing and teh judge will set up a payment plan for you.

Best wishes,

Richard Hornsby

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Answered on 2/02/05, 9:48 pm


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