CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 1974, 2009 WL 102221
...Stadler, of Stadler & Harris, P.A., Titusville, for Appellant. Howard M. Swerbilow of Law Office of Caruso & Swerbilow, P.A., Merritt Island, for Appellee Bernard W. Simpkins. No Appearance for other Appellees. SAWAYA, J. This case involves application of section 903.286, Florida Statutes (2007), which provides in pertinent part that the clerk of court is to withhold from the return of a cash bond posted on behalf of a criminal defendant by a person other than a licensed bail bondsman "any unpaid court fees, court costs, and criminal penalties." The issues we must resolve are whether section 903.286 is constitutional and, if so, whether the statute should be interpreted to mean sums owed only in the particular case for which bond was posted or whether it encompasses all of a defendant's cases. These issues come to us via the following certified question posed by the County Court: "Is Florida Statute 903.286 constitutional and if so [what] is the statutory interpretation as to the definition of `any costs and fees.'" We restate the questions as follows to more accurately reflect the specific issues raised: Does section 903.286 violate the constitutional provisions relating to due process, equal protection, excessive bail, eminent domain, or the single subject rule? Does section 903.286 apply to any unpaid fees, court costs, and criminal penalties in all of the defendant's criminal cases? Resolution of these issues does not require a detailed discussion of the underlying facts of the crime the defendant, Jack Hunter, was convicted of committing....
...Suffice it to say that after Hunter was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, another individual, Bernard Simpkins, who was previously Hunter's father-in-law, posted a cash bond in the amount of $5,000 to secure Hunter's release from jail. The bond form Simpkins signed specifically provided: 1) Section 903.286, Florida Statutes, requires the Clerk of the Court shall withhold from the return of a cash *377 bond posted on behalf of a criminal defendant by a person other than a bail bond agent licensed pursuant to chapter 648 sufficient funds to pay any unpaid court fees, court costs and criminal penalties. 2) A refund will only be made if the cash bond is more than what is owed on ALL of the defendant's cases. Specifically referenced in the bond is section 903.286, Florida Statutes, which provides: Notwithstanding the provisions of s....
...In the event that sufficient funds are not available to pay all unpaid court fees, court costs, and criminal penalties, the clerk of the court shall immediately obtain payment from the defendant or enroll the defendant in a payment plan pursuant to s.
28.246. §
903.286, Fla....
...After all the deductions, there was nothing to remit to Simpkins. Simpkins filed a motion protesting the Clerk's refusal to return the cash appearance bond and requesting that the Clerk of Court be required to show cause why the bond should not be returned. A hearing was held, and the trial court concluded that section 903.286 is constitutional....
...The appellate court is not required to defer to the judgment of the trial court. Although trial court decisions are presumed to be correct, there is also a presumption in the law that a statute is constitutionally valid."). The Constitutional Challenges The trial court considered several constitutional challenges to section 903.286 and rejected each....
...allow an unlawful taking of property without just compensation. Simpkins raises other constitutional arguments, contending that the statute violates the single subject rule and allows for excessive bail. The first three constitutional challenges to section 903.286 were previously considered by this court and rejected in Biddle v....
...gations, nor did he have an opportunity to be heard and challenge the withholding of the return of the cash bail. We believe that this argument has very little merit. The record clearly shows that Simpkins was expressly notified of the provisions of section 903.286 in the bond form he signed....
...Moreover, the trial court, in rejecting this argument, also found that "[n]otice has been posted at the Brevard County Jail to advise arrested persons and their families about this statute." In rejecting a similar due process argument based on a statute similar to section 903.286, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, in State v....
...code violations and an opportunity to correct them because "every person is presumed to know the law and ... ignorance of the law is no excuse." (quoting Am. Home Assur. Co. v. Plaza Materials Corp.,
908 So.2d 360, 377 (Fla.2005))). It is clear that section
903.286 does not prevent a person who posts a cash appearance bond from contesting the amount withheld or whether those amounts are properly owed by the defendant. Like we did in Biddle, we conclude that section
903.286 does not violate the Due Process Clause of the Florida or Federal Constitutions....
...must merely be based on "some difference that bears a just and reasonable relation to the statute in respect to which the classification is proposed." Rollins v. State,
354 So.2d 61, 63 (Fla.1978); see also Beach,
508 U.S. at 314-16,
113 S.Ct. 2096. Section
903.286 clearly does not violate these requirements by treating licensed bail bondsmen differently from those individuals who post a cash bond....
...o obtain pre-trial release from incarceration when they do not have sufficient cash resources to meet bail, bondsmen operate under strict restrictions and regulations. See Chapter 648, Florida Statutes. We agree with this reasoning and conclude that section 903.286 does not violate the constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the laws....
...Eminent Domain The constitutional provisions relating to eminent domain prohibit the government from taking private property, unless the taking is for public use and just compensation is given. See U.S. Const. amend. V; Fla. Const. art. X, § 6. It is readily apparent that section 903.286 does not violate the Takings Clause. As the trial court correctly concluded below: "The posting of bond for oneself or another, as in this case, is totally voluntary. No one can be forced to post a bond. Those posting the bond are presumed to have knowledge of Sec. 903.286....
...ect of assigning the collection of bad check debt to a private debt collector with the subject of driving, motor vehicles, and vehicle registration." Critchfield,
842 So.2d at 786. Unlike the law at issue in Critchfield, the chapter law that enacted section
903.286 complies with all three requirements of the single subject clause....
...icial system." A review of the full title and the substantive provisions of the act reveal that the title and provisions of the act relate logically and naturally to the funding and functioning of various aspects of the judicial system. For example, section
903.286 relates to securing adequate funding for the judicial system by ensuring that fines, costs, and penalties imposed on convicted criminal defendants are actually collected. Accordingly, neither section
903.286 nor the enacting legislation violates the single subject rule or any other provision of the Florida or Federal Constitutions. We note, parenthetically, that even if a single subject violation had occurred, section
903.286 was enacted effective July 1, 2005, by chapter 05-236, Laws of Florida, and was reenacted by chapter 06-3, as part of the adoption act, which is now submitted to the Legislature annually. See §
11.2421, Fla. Stat. (2006); Linda S. Jessen, Preface to Florida Statutes at vi (2006). Because Simpkins posted bond for Hunter on January 22, 2007, any single subject violation in section
903.286 was cured before Simpkins posted bond....
...y person charged with a criminal offense shall be entitled to release on reasonable conditions. See U.S. Const. amend. VIII; Fla. Const. art. I, § 14. A review of the relevant authorities yields two principal conclusions relevant to our analysis of section 903.286....
...imposed against the defendant. For these reasons, we do not believe sec. 969.03(4) violates the Excessive Bail Clause of the Eighth Amendment. Id. at 182 (footnote omitted) (citing Higgins,
987 F.2d at 543). Based on the foregoing, it is clear that section
903.286, Florida Statutes, does not violate the provisions of the U.S. or Florida Constitutions relating to excessive bail. There is nothing in the provisions of section
903.286 that requires or allows the trial court to consider the amount of unpaid fines, costs, or criminal penalties in establishing the amount of the bond, and there is absolutely nothing in the provisions of the statute that requires or all...
...the fact that Hunter had unpaid fines, costs, and criminal penalties in other cases. Statutory Interpretation We now turn to the second certified questionthe correct interpretation of the statute. Specifically, the issue is whether the language in section 903.286 pertaining to withholding unpaid fees, costs, and penalties from a cash bond should be interpreted to mean sums owed only in the particular case for which bond was posted or whether it encompasses all of a defendant's cases....
...Dep't of Health,
898 So.2d 61, 64 (Fla.2005). In instances where the statutory language is clear, we must read the statute as written and the statute's plain and ordinary meaning must control. Id. We believe that the trial court erred by narrowly interpreting section
903.286 to apply only to fines, costs, and penalties assessed in the case in which the bond was posted because the plain language of the statute declares that "sufficient funds to pay any unpaid court fees, court costs, and criminal penalties," shall be withheld from the return of a cash bond. §
903.286, Fla....
...(emphasis added). We believe that the statutory language clearly establishes the Legislature's intention that the statute be applied to all of a defendant's cases in which fines, costs, or criminal penalties remain unpaid. If the Legislature intended to restrict section 903.286 to the case in which the bond was posted, it certainly knew how to employ the appropriate language to convey that meaning....
...§
903.105(5), Fla. Stat. (2007) (emphasis added). This statute makes it apparent that the appearance bond will only be applied to satisfy fines, costs, or penalties associated with the case in which the bond was posted. However, when the Legislature drafted section
903.286, rather than include language similar to that used in section
903.105(5) to restrict application of the bond proceeds to the case in which the bond was posted, it included language that specifically states that the statute applies to "a cash bond posted on behalf of a criminal defendant" and further included very broad and all-inclusive language that the bond proceeds will be used to pay "any" and "all" of a defendant's unpaid fines, costs or criminal penalties. §
903.286, Fla. Stat. (2007). Our interpretation of section
903.286 is supported by the purpose for which it was enacted. Section
903.286 was enacted in 2005 as part of legislation aimed at fulfilling Revision 7 to Article V of the Florida Constitution, which allocated state court system funding among the state, counties, and users of the courts....
...V, § 14(b) ("All funding for the offices of the clerks of the circuit and county courts . . . shall be provided by adequate and appropriate filing fees for *385 judicial proceedings and service charges and costs for performing court-related functions as required by general law."). Thus, the purpose of section 903.286 is to secure adequate funding for the judicial system by ensuring that the costs, fees, and criminal penalties assessed against convicted criminal defendants are actually collected. Our interpretation of the statute directly advances this purpose. Conclusion We conclude that Simpkins has failed to meet his burden of overcoming the strong presumption of constitutionality that cloaks section 903.286....
...money used to pay all of Hunter's fines, costs, and criminal penalties in any of his cases. AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part. ORFINGER, J. and PLEUS, R., Senior Judge, concur. NOTES [1] We note that effective July 1, 2008, the Legislature amended section 903.286....
...cases. The courts that have considered this specific issue have upheld the application of the cash bond posted by third-party depositors to the payment of the defendant's unpaid costs, fines, and penalties based upon statutory provisions similar to section 903.286....
...torney fees and court costs in case number 05-05-MM-035765 (prostitution, lewdness, and assignation). [3] The opinion in Biddle states that the trial court was correct in rejecting the constitutional challenge raised by petitioner to the validity of section 903.286....
...1 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); see also Ashman v. State,
886 So.2d 1079, 1081 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004); Cooper v. State,
845 So.2d 312 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003). Having done so, it is clear from those records that the petitioner in Biddle challenged the constitutionality of section
903.286 on the basis of due process, equal protection, and eminent domain....
CopyAgo (Fla. Att'y Gen. 2006).
Published | Florida Attorney General Reports
Dear Mr. Burke: You have requested my opinion on substantially the following question: Do the terms of section
903.286 , Florida Statutes, supercede or repeal the requirements of section
939.17 , Florida Statutes, for purposes of distributing cash bond monies posted prior to July 1, 2005? Chapter 903 , Florida Statutes, governs the admission to bail of persons arrested for criminal offenses....
...1 The purpose of bail is to secure the attendance of the accused at trial to answer the charges brought against him or her. 2 Upon complying with the conditions of the bond, the defendant is entitled to the return of the money deposited; prior to the enactment of section 903.286 , Florida Statutes, there was no statutory authorization for the deduction of costs or fines from cash bail deposited by a defendant....
...ugh it may be forfeited if the person for whom bail has been granted fails to comply with the conditions of the bail bond; money deposited in lieu of bail with an officer is held in trust by such officer for the state until forfeited upon default. 4 Section 903.286 , Florida Statutes, was enacted in 2005 5 and provides for the disposition of cash bonds posted on behalf of criminal defendants....
...The opinion noted that money deposited pursuant to section
939.17 , Florida Statutes, is separate and distinct from bond money collected and held pursuant to Chapter 903 , Florida Statutes, and is treated separately pursuant to section
939.17 . Nothing in the legislative history surrounding the enactment of section
903.286 , Florida Statutes, indicates a legislative intent to supercede the provisions of section
939.17 , Florida Statutes....
...nd a construction is favored giving each statute a field of operation rather than having the former statute repealed by implication. 10 Therefore, in light of the distinct nature of moneys collected pursuant to section
939.17 , Florida Statutes, and section
903.286 , Florida Statutes, and the Legislature's separate and distinct treatment of these funds, it is my opinion that each statute must be read to have an independent scope of operation. In direct response to your question, section
903.286 , Florida Statutes, was not enacted to and does not supercede or repeal by implication the provisions of section
939.17 , Florida Statutes....
