Courts may waive some fees but not restitution or listed assessments

Courts may use a hardship waiver for certain fees connected to criminal cases or motor-vehicle offenses. The term fee covers costs, penalties, assessments, and other criminal-case or motor-vehicle monetary obligations, but not restitution or fines. The waiver may not apply to offenses eligible for voluntary assessment, certain civil penalties, or electronic-monitoring violations. The synopsis also identifies toll, red-light-camera, and speed-camera violations as outside the waiver or modification rules. No effective date or implementation trigger is stated in these passages.

Courts may choose not to impose, or may waive, suspend, or change, a fine or fee. The authority applies to fines and fees, including those otherwise treated as required or not normally subject to waiver or suspension. Courts may not waive, suspend, or change the penalty assessment under Title 11, Section 9016. The authority does not apply to restitution because the hardship-waiver definition excludes restitution. The court may use this authority at any time, but the supplied passages do not state an effective date.

Courts would no longer have to complete the additional report described in the amendment synopsis. The provision concerns an additional report required of courts. The supplied passages do not identify the report's contents, recipients, or reporting schedule. No effective date or reporting deadline is stated in these passages.