Sec. 9. (a) The court may order either or both parents of a child for whom a guardian ad litem or court appointed special advocate is appointed under this chapter to pay a user fee for the services provided under this chapter. The court shall establish one (1) of the following procedures to be used to collect the user fee:

(1) The court may order the clerk of the court to collect the user fee and deposit the user fee into the county’s guardian ad litem fund or court appointed special advocate fund. The fiscal body of the county shall appropriate money collected as user fees under this chapter to the court having jurisdiction over custody actions for the court’s use in providing guardian ad litem or court appointed special advocate services, including the costs of representation.

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Terms Used In Indiana Code 31-17-6-9

  • Attorney: includes a counselor or other person authorized to appear and represent a party in an action or special proceeding. See Indiana Code 1-1-4-5
  • Clerk: means the clerk of the court or a person authorized to perform the clerk's duties. See Indiana Code 1-1-4-5
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
(2) The court may order either or both parents to pay the user fee to the:

(A) guardian ad litem program that provided the services; or

(B) court appointed special advocate program that provided the services.

(3) The court may order either or both parents to pay the user fee to the individual or attorney guardian ad litem that provided the services.

     (b) Money remaining in a county’s:

(1) guardian ad litem fund; or

(2) court appointed special advocate fund;

at the end of the county’s fiscal year does not revert to any other fund.

     (c) If the court orders either or both parents to pay the user fee according to subsection (a)(2) or (a)(3) the program or the individual or attorney guardian ad litem shall report to the court the receipt of payment not later than thirty (30) days after receiving the payment.

[Pre-1997 Recodification Citation: 31-1-11.5-28(k) part, (l) part.]

As added by P.L.1-1997, SEC.9.