A state judge ordered the MO Dept of Revenue to stop charging the $7 fee for driver license and motor vehicle records. It was the judge's opinion the fee hike violated the the state Sunshine Law. A hearing is set for June 20.
Effective June 8, 2008, the recording fee for each document recorded in West Virginia recording offices will increase by $5.00. There is no fee increase for document searches, copies or certifications. The new fees will be as follows: Deed will be $36.00; Deed of Trust will be $16.00; Amendment will be $16.00; and Assignment or Release will be $11.00. Thanks to the folks at Ernst Publishing for their assistance on clarifying each of the new fees. The fee increase was part of S.B. 622 which can be found at www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Text_HTML/2008_SESSIONS/RS/BILLS/SB622%20SUB2%20enr.htm If you read the bill, please be aware it is somewhat confusing. The bill does not contain language that says “there is a $5.00 fee increase,” but instead mentions monetarily the segments that make-up the entire cost of recording.
Effective May 1st, the state of Missouri increased the access fee to obtain a copy of a driving record or a vehicle record from $1.25 to $7.00 per record. While this is a major increase, it does place the state in the normal fee range when compared to the rest of the nation (the national average is just above $6.50). The additional funds are earmarked for upgrading outdated technology. However, the Missouri Department Revenue is also implementing the same new fee for a different type of record access – the purchase of records in bulk or database format. The nationwide norm of fees for bulk access of vehicle records is between $.02 and $.04 per record. The states charging the highest fees – Arizona and California – are selling in bulk at about $.10 per record. However, Mr. Omar Davis, Director of the Department of Revenue, has increased the Missouri fee for bulk records from several cents a record to a nationwide high fee of $7.00 per record, an exorbitant increase of nearly 17500%. This fee increase affects entities that provide information for vehicle owners about vehicle recalls and for consumers checking vehicle history, such as if a vehicle was a salvage vehicle, flooded, rebuilt, or to see if an odometer was rolled back. Showing an apparent lack of knowledge by his advisors or researchers about record purchase and usage, Mr. Davis actually testified before a Missouri Legislative Committee that the fee increase for bulk records placed Missouri in the national norm. If the $7.00 bulk fee stays in place, these types of record uses in Missouri will become cost prohibitive and Missouri will most likely become a dumping ground for problem vehicles. At present, several lawsuits have been filed by nationwide vendors against the Missouri Department of Revenue to stop the fee increase. The lawsuits argue that the fee increase violates the set limits on what the government can charge for records. Earlier this year, a similar situation occurred in Washington, DC where the administration’s lack of knowledge of the difference between batch inquiry and bulk sales nearly shut access to driving records in that jurisdiction. Fortunately, the DC administrators modified their policies before a shut-down occurred. One hopes that logical thinking will take place in the Show Me state as well.
Mississippi recently added a new Justice Court in Jasper County in Paulding and is calling it District Court #1. The original Justice Court in Bay Springs is now designated as Justice Court #2. Mississippi Justice Courts are courts of limited jurisdiction over small claims civil cases involving amounts of $2,500 or less, misdemeanor criminal cases and any traffic offense that occurs outside a municipality. Justice Court judges may conduct bond hearings and preliminary hearings in felony criminal cases and may issue search warrants. For case records going forward from May 1, 2008 both courts must be searched (records are not co-mingled). For case records prior to May 1, 2008, search the Bay Springs Court.
The New York Office of Court Administration recently raised its statewide search fee from $52.00 to $55.00. Visit http://www.nycourts.gov/apps/chrs/
The Missouri House of Representatives overwhelming defeated the bill containing an increase to $7 for driver records. The Senate previously passed a different version of the bill. The Senate must approve the House bill or the two groups need to compromise by the end of legislation session.
Missouri recently raised their fees for driver license and motor vehicle records from $1.25 to $7 per record. Members of the state legislature, press and other groups are challenging the increase. The fees were increased to cover the cost of a new 50 million computer system. The system is being designed by BearingPoint who will receive $1 out of each $7 fee.
The state's Department of Revenue Director Omar Davis has reportedly stated the records "weren't public records" and opted to bypassed the legislature and Sunshine Laws when raising the fee.
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Analysts International Corp, VisionWare and the University of Alabama are combining efforts to create a new Criminal Records Index Master for the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center (ACJIC). We have no information as far as when the system will be available.
ADP Employer Services has released its annual Screening Index, a yearly evaluation of employment screening and hiring trends. The index reports on statistics pulled from nearly 5.8 million background checks. Two interesting stats include-
View ADP’s Screening Index
A Rhode Island House committee has approved a bill to remove thousands of crimes from the public record. If approved, thousands of convicted criminals will be able to tell state licensing boards and prospective employers that they have never been convicted of a crime. The bill is heading to the full house for a vote. View bill folder. View Providence Journal newspaper article.
