What changes to Court Rule CrRLJ 3.2 specifically effect the courts of limited jurisdiction?

The changes to Court Rule CrRLJ 3.2 impact the courts of limited jurisdiction's Bail Forfeiture process.  The changes to the Bail Forfeiture process are outlined below:


Bail Forfeiture (BF) Transaction Type Code


The Bail Forfeiture (BF) Transaction Type Code will still be available for use on the Receipt Payment (RCP) screen.  However, the BF code will now behave the same as all other Transaction Codes.  It will no longer automatically add the "BF" Finding/Judgment Code on all non-disposed charges on the Plea/Sentence (PLS) screen.  Also, when the payment receipted pays the case in full, use of the BF code will no longer close the case. 


Bail Forfeiture (BF) Finding/Judgment Code


Beginning in July 2012 the Bail Forfeiture (BF) Finding/Judgment Code will no longer be available for use in the Plea/Sentence (PLS) screen.  While the Bail Forfeiture process is no longer available after July 1, 2012 due to the court rule change, there will have been criminal citations issued on or before June 30, 2012 that allow the defendant to "pay or appear."  The BF Finding/Judgment Code will be available through July 16, 2012 to allow those defendants the 15 days to pay the Bail Forfeiture or appear in court per the language on the criminal citation forms.


Note:  Although the code is available until July 16, 2012, the courts are not authorized by the court rule to allow entry of a Bail Forfeiture on citations issued on or after July 1, 2012.

District and Municipal Courts Local Law Tables


All criminal violations (CN and CT case types) in your local law table must have the mandatory appearance flag set to "Yes" in the Fine/Penalty Schedule Update (FPSU) screen effective July 1, 2012.  AOC has updated the mandatory appearance flag to "Yes" for all criminal case type laws in both the local law tables as well as the statewide law table.  When entering new local laws, courts must be sure to enter Y (Yes) in the mandatory appearance field on all new criminal violations.  The FPSU Manual has been updated to indicate this required change. 


Also, effective July 1, 2012, the bail amount on the statewide law table is $500 for Misdemeanors and $1000 for Gross Misdeameanors.


Criminal Citation Form Changes


On May 18, 2012, the Uniform Infraction and Citation Committee amended the Criminal Citation form. This included:


  • On the face of the criminal citations, bail amounts no longer appear and only Mandatory Appearance appears.
  • On the back of the defendant copy, all bail forfeiture language was removed.


The July 2012 criminal citation forms must be used beginning July 1, 2013. This gives jurisdictions time to use up current supplies of criminal citations. The SECTOR (e-Ticket) form will also be modified to reflect the above changes.  A copy of the July 2012 criminal citation form is available for review.  See the attached memo and citation copy located at the bottom of this answer.


Note: Starting July 1, 2012, courts should be on the lookout for criminal citations that are marked as Bail Forfeiture. If the violation date is on or after July 1, 2012, bail forfeiture is not an option.


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RN id: 2270