Ohio Code 1901.44 – Alternative methods for collecting court costs; notice of balance due
(A)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Revised Code, if at the time of sentencing or at any time after sentencing a municipal court finds that a person who is found guilty of an offense is unable to pay costs, the court may order the offender to perform community service in lieu of costs.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 1901.44
- Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
- municipal court: includes the housing or environmental division of the municipal court, and "judge" includes the judge of the housing or environmental division of the municipal court, as created by section 1901. See Ohio Code 1901.031
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Revised Code, if at the time of sentencing or at any time after sentencing a municipal court finds that a person who is found guilty of an offense will not be able to pay costs in full when they are due, the court may order the offender to pay the costs in installments according to a schedule set by the court.
(B) If a person is charged with an offense in municipal court and either fails to appear in court at the required time and place to answer the charge or pleads guilty to or is found guilty of the offense and fails within the time allowed by the court to pay any fine or costs imposed by the court, the court may enter information relative to the person’s failure to pay any outstanding amount of the fine or costs on a form prescribed or approved by the registrar of motor vehicles pursuant to division (C) of this section and send the form to the registrar. Upon receipt of the form, the registrar shall take any measures necessary to ensure that neither the registrar nor any deputy registrar accepts any application for the registration or transfer of registration of any motor vehicle owned or leased by the person. However, for a motor vehicle leased by the person, the registrar shall not implement this requirement until the registrar adopts procedures for that implementation under section 4503.39 of the Revised Code.
The period of denial relating to the issuance or transfer of a certificate of registration for a motor vehicle imposed under this section remains in effect until the person pays any fine or costs imposed by the court relative to the offense. When the fine or costs have been paid in full, the court shall inform the registrar of the payment by entering information relative to the payment on a notice of payment form prescribed or approved by the registrar pursuant to division (C) of this section and sending the form to the registrar.
(C) The registrar shall prescribe and make available to municipal courts forms to be used for a notice to the registrar of failure to pay fines or costs and a notice to the registrar of payment of fines or costs under division (B) of this section. The registrar may approve the use of other forms for these purposes.
The registrar may require that any of the forms prescribed or approved pursuant to this section be transmitted to the registrar electronically. If the registrar requires electronic transmission, the registrar shall not be required to give effect to any form that is not transmitted electronically.