Rule 4.110.Defendant Motion for Reimbursement

Money paid to the court under a criminal judgment can come back, but only when the conviction behind it has fallen away for good. A defendant may request reimbursement of costs, fines, fees, and restitution imposed as a result of conviction and paid to the court if a reviewing court has reversed or vacated the criminal judgment and every opportunity to seek a criminal judgment through retrial on remand and appeal is time barred or has been waived by the prosecutor. The rule defines a reviewing court as an appellate court or a post-conviction relief court, so relief granted in a post-conviction case counts.

The request is a motion filed in the criminal case and served on the prosecutor. It must state information showing that the criminal judgment has been reversed or vacated by a reviewing court; the name of the reviewing court, its case number, and the date of its decision; information showing that retrial on remand and appeal are time barred or waived by the prosecutor; and the itemized amounts the defendant paid to the court in costs, fines, fees, and restitution.

Not every payment is on the table. The rule does not apply to fees the court imposed independent of conviction or acquittal, and it names indigent defense application fees, contribution fees, and attorney fees as examples. Those charges attach to the process of being represented rather than to the conviction, so reversing the judgment does not reach them.

Itemizing carefully pays off. The court is being asked to return specific sums, and a motion that lists each payment by category gives the judge something to order and the prosecutor something concrete to answer.