HB1529: HB1529 Canon, City of; Municipal Court; authorize assessment and collection of a technology fee

This bill gives the Municipal Court of the City of Canon a new way to pay for its technology needs. It authorizes the court clerk to add a surcharge, capped at $15, to each criminal and quasi-criminal fine paid to the court, with the exact amount set by the municipal court judge. The money collected can only be used for specific technology purposes: buying computer hardware and software, leasing, maintaining, and installing computer hardware, and purchasing, leasing, maintaining, and installing imaging, scanning, fax, communications, projection, and printing equipment and software. The funds must be kept in a separate account subject to audit. The authority to collect this fee ends on July 1, 2036, after which any leftover money stays dedicated to the city's technology needs, though the city government can pull out a surplus if one exists.

• Authorizes the clerk of the Municipal Court of the City of Canon to charge a technology fee of up to $15 on each criminal and quasi-criminal fine paid to the court.
• Limits use of the fee revenue to computer hardware and software purchases, and to leasing, maintaining, and installing computer hardware.
• Also allows the fee money to fund imaging, scanning, fax, communications, projection, and printing equipment and software.
• Requires the collected funds to be kept in a segregated account subject to audit by an auditor approved by the City of Canon's governing authority.
• Ends the court's authority to collect the fee on July 1, 2036, and dedicates any leftover funds to general city technology uses unless the city transfers a surplus to itself.
• Repeals any existing laws that conflict with this new authorization.

People who are fined in criminal or quasi-criminal cases in the Municipal Court of the City of Canon, the court's clerk who collects and manages the fee, the municipal court judge who sets the fee amount, and the City of Canon's governing authority, which can audit or claim surplus funds.

Defendants paying fines in Canon's municipal court could see an added charge of up to $15 on top of their existing fine, generating a dedicated funding stream for court technology like computers and printers, while the arrangement automatically expires in 2036 unless renewed.

• Section 1(a) authorizes a technology fee, capped at $15 and set by the municipal court judge, as a surcharge on criminal and quasi-criminal fines in the Municipal Court of the City of Canon.
• Section 1(a) restricts fee revenue to three specific technology uses: computer hardware and software purchases; leasing, maintenance, and installation of computer hardware; and purchase, lease, maintenance, and installation of imaging, scanning, fax, communications, projection, and printing equipment and software.
• Section 1(b) requires the funds to be held in a segregated account managed by the court clerk, subject to audit by an auditor approved by the City of Canon.
• Section 1(c) sets July 1, 2036 as the termination date for the fee, with residual funds staying dedicated to city technology uses unless the city government transfers a surplus to itself.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-05-12Effective Date 2026-05-12
2. 2026-05-12Act 670
3. 2026-05-12House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-06House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-03-25Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2026-03-25Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
7. 2026-03-23Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
8. 2026-03-20House Passed/Adopted (House)

• Alan Powell (R, HD-033)Primary sponsor

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 20, 2026

   153 yea, 0 nay (14 not voting, 9 absent)

   Local Calendar : House Vote #734

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 25, 2026

   50 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 2 absent)

   Local Consent Calendar: Senate Vote #799

• municipal courts
• court fees
• local government funding
• City of Canon
• technology funding