§ 14A.054.Court Fees, Court Costs, Other Costs

The payment scheme, on the same percentages as the inmate chapter, administered by the office instead.

The first payment is the lesser of 20 percent of the preceding six months’ deposits or the total fees and costs; each following month, the lesser of 10 percent of that month’s deposits or the unpaid balance, until paid or until the individual is released from confinement.

"Until the individual is released from confinement" reads differently in this chapter. An inmate has a sentence with an end; civil commitment continues until a court determines the person no longer meets the criteria, which may take many years or never come.

So the collection period here is open-ended in a way the inmate chapter’s is not, and a substantial costs order can take years to repay at 10 percent a month.

The office or a contracted facility does the collecting — withdrawing money from the trust account, holding it in a separate account, and forwarding it to the clerk when the balance is covered or the individual is released.

The individual must file a certified trust account statement showing the balance at filing and six months of activity, and the court may ask the office to supply it.

The trust account itself is a thinner resource than an inmate’s. The programme is not a prison and does not run prison industries, so deposits come largely from family and from what work the person is permitted.

Two enforcement rules close the section: the court may dismiss a claim for non-payment, and the individual may not avoid the fees by nonsuiting a party or voluntarily dismissing.

An individual may authorize payment in addition to what is required, which is worth knowing where a filing bar is in prospect.