Louisiana § RS 13:996.68 - Judicial building fund; Twenty-First Judicial District

§ RS 13:996.68. Judicial building fund; Twenty-First Judicial District

A.(1)  Subject to the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure Article 5181 et seq., in all cases over which the Twenty-First Judicial District Court for the parish of Livingston has jurisdiction, the judges of the Twenty-First Judicial District Court, acting en banc, and the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court are hereby authorized to impose and collect the following costs of court and additional filing charges:

(a)  A filing charge of one hundred dollars per filing which shall be paid to the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court when the initial filing of a civil suit is made.

(b)  A filing charge of ten dollars upon the filing of each additional pleading in a civil matter which shall be paid to the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court when such filing is made.  For purposes of this Subparagraph, additional pleadings shall include but are not limited to petitions, motions, orders, affidavits, judgments, rules, correspondence, citations, evidence, dismissals, depositions, writs, appeals, answers, and subpoenas.

(2)  The charges provided in this Section shall be in addition to other filing charges levied and collected by the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court for civil filings.

(3)  All such filing charges shall be imposed by the judges of the Twenty-First Judicial District Court acting en banc.

B.(1)  The judges of the Twenty-First Judicial District Court acting en banc and the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court are hereby authorized to impose and collect a filing fee of twenty dollars upon the recordation of documents and such fee shall be paid to the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court when the document is presented for recordation.

(2)  This filing fee shall be in addition to other filing fees levied and collected by the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court.

(3)  All such recordation fees shall be imposed by the judges of the Twenty-First Judicial District Court acting en banc.

C.  The monies generated pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall be held by the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court on behalf of the parish of Livingston and shall be remitted at least monthly by the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court directly to the Department of Finance for the parish of Livingston, and irrevocably deposited into the Livingston Parish Courthouse Fund dedicated exclusively to the design, acquisition, construction, renovation, equipping, operation, and maintenance of a new Livingston Parish courthouse to be located in the parish of Livingston, and for the payment of any bonds or other indebtedness on any such facilities.

D.(1)  Subject to the limitations provided in this Section, the Livingston Parish Council, as the governing authority of the parish of Livingston, shall have ownership and control over the Livingston Parish Courthouse Fund, and shall have the authority to pledge the Livingston Parish Courthouse Fund to bonds or other instruments of indebtedness issued by or on behalf of the parish of Livingston.  The Livingston Parish Council shall have the authority to pay and disburse from the Livingston Parish Courthouse Fund all amounts necessary to pay and discharge any bonds or other instruments of indebtedness issued to pay for the construction of the new Livingston Parish courthouse.

(2)  Any amounts in the Livingston Parish Courthouse Fund in addition to those funds necessary to pay and discharge any bonds or other instruments of indebtedness issued to pay for the construction of the new Livingston Parish courthouse may be expended for purposes of operating, maintaining, equipping, or furnishing the new Livingston Parish courthouse, or for additional new construction or renovations to the new Livingston Parish courthouse, but such additional surplus funds may be expended only by authority of the parish president of Livingston Parish, the chief judge of the Twenty-First Judicial District Court, and the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court, by majority vote.

E.  Subject to the provisions of Subsection G of this Section, the judges of the Twenty-First Judicial District Court, acting en banc, may, as concurred by ordinance of the Livingston Parish Council, reduce the amount of filing charges and recordation fees provided for in this Section if the balance of sums on deposit in the Livingston Parish Courthouse Fund exceeds the requirements necessary for the new Livingston Parish courthouse, including but not limited to the payment of debt service on bonds or other indebtedness incurred in connection with the Livingston Parish courthouse.

F.  For all matters pertaining to the filing charges and recordation fees imposed by the provisions of this Section, and those related to the Livingston Parish courthouse, the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court and the judges of the Twenty-First Judicial District Court, acting en banc, shall have the authority to enter into any cooperative endeavor agreement with the parish of Livingston in conjunction with the design, construction, renovation, equipping, operation, and maintenance of the new Livingston Parish courthouse.

G.  Notwithstanding any provision of law in this Section to the contrary, the state and any political subdivision thereof, the Twenty-First Judicial District Court, the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court, the Livingston Parish Council, and the Louisiana Legislature covenant and agree with the parish of Livingston and the holders of any bonds or other indebtedness of the parish of Livingston issued in connection with the new Livingston Parish courthouse, that so long as such bonds or other indebtedness shall remain outstanding, the state and any political subdivision thereof, the Twenty-First Judicial District Court, the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court, the Livingston Parish Council, and the Louisiana Legislature shall not in any way impair the rights and remedies of such holder of the security for such bonds or other indebtedness of the parish of Livingston issued in connection with the new Livingston Parish courthouse, until all such bonds or other indebtedness of the parish of Livingston are fully paid and discharged.

Acts 2011, No. 20, §1.