Attorney Will Provide County With Guidance On Circuit Court Fees, Collecting City Tax Liens

Members of the Ste. Genevieve County Commission spoke with attorney Ivan Schraeder last Thursday about a pair of issues confronting the county.

The county is trying to decide how big a fee to charge on court cases the 24th Circuit Court will be taking over from the municipal courts of Ste. Genevieve and St. Mary.

The cities were planning to switch cases to the Circuit Court around the beginning of their new fiscal years, which begin October 1 for both cities.

Some counties are not charging a fee and some are charging as much as $15 per case. Presiding Commissioner Garry Nelson wondered if $10 would be a sufficient fee.

“It’s our paper, our printers, our secretaries,” he said, adding that the initial organizing of the switch  is “a nightmare.”

Nelson said he didn’t want to be “piling on” costs for defendants.

Schraeder said the fees would be paid by the city, not the defendant.

They also discussed the city of Ste. Genevieve’s desire to have County Collector Claudia Stuppy begin collecting fines levied by the city for abatement work done on nuisance properties that would be added to the owners’ property taxes. Nelson has warned Stuppy to be cautious because it would be illegal for her to collect these if the city’s voters had not approved such a measure. He disagrees with an opinion given by the city attorney that the state statute in question would not apply in this case.

Schraeder said he will research the issue and get back with the commission.

See complete story in the August 7 edition of the Herald.