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ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE Of THE COURTS JUStiCE BUILDING P O. BOX 244B RALEIGH. NORTH CAROLINA 2?602 INFORMATION MEMORANDUM REGARDING FACILITIES FEE REVENUE With the reorganization of North Carolina courts in the 1960's, the State assumed funding responsibility for the operatinl~ expenses (salaries, office supplies, equipment, travel, etc.) of the Judicial Department, leaving to the counties (or municipalities) thc funding responsibility for providing facilities and furniture. Article IV, Section 20 of the North Carolina Constitution expressly provides: "The operating expenses of the judicial department, other than compensation to process servers and other locally paid non-judicial officers, shall be paid from State funds." See also Section 7A-300(a) of the North Carolina General Statutes. Section 7A-302 of the North Carolina Gcneral Statutes provides that the counties (and municipalities in cases of additional scats of court outside the county seat)arc rcsponslble for providing courtrooms and related judicial facilities (including furniture). This section goes on to provide that the facilities fee, collected for the State by the clerks of superior court, shall be remitted to thc county or municipality providing the Facilities, "to assist a county or municipality in meeting the expense of providing courtrooms and related judicial facilities." Thus, the General Assembly has recognized that the facilities fee revenue would not be adequate to cover all the costs of providing and maintaining building facilities, particularly in the event of major renovation or additions or construction of a new building. Rather, the facilities fee revenue, to the extent available, would assist thc counties and municipalities in providing adequate building facilities for [he courts. Thc Prcscribcd USc of Facilities Fcc Revenue G.S. 7A-304(a)(2) and G.S. 7A-305(a)(1) provide for thc collcction of a facilities fcc in court cases. These fees are to be remitted by the clerk of superior court to the county in which the judgment is rendered. If the judgment is rendered in facilities provided by a municipality, the facilities fcc is to be remlttqd to thc municipality. Under G.S. 7A-304(a)(2), funds derived from the Facilities fee are to be used "exclusively" by the county or municipality "for providing, maintaining, and constructing adequate courtroom and related judicial facilities, including" - adequate space and furniture for judges, district attorncys, public dcfcndcrs, magistrates, juries, and other court related personnel; office space, furniture and vaults for thc clerk; jail and juvenile dctention facilities; free parking for jurors; law library (including books) if one has heretofore been established or if the governing body hereafter decides to establish one.