An increased fee on criminal cases to help rape and abuse victims is not a "dead issue" in Cole County, according to a commissioner who failed to support it Monday.
We encourage the Cole County Commission to reconsider the request.
In a presentation Monday to the commission, officials with the Jefferson City Rape and Abuse Crisis Service (RACS) sought approval for a fee increase from $2 to $4 for each criminal case. The state Legislature last year authorized local governments to increase the fee directed to shelters for abused spouses and children.
The county's three-member commission rejected the fee hike after Eastern District Commissioner Jeff Hoelscher voiced concerns and said: "I see it as another tax."
Western District Commissioner Kris Scheperle agreed with Hoelscher's assessment, leaving Presiding Commissioner Sam Bushman's call for a motion unanswered.
Alden Henrickson, RACS executive director, said Cole County was the first local government approached, but similar requests will be made to other local governments in the nine-county area served by RACS.
Support for RACS, as well as its need for a consistent source of operating funds, is not in dispute. Hoelscher reiterated Tuesday that he supports the work of the organization, which provides counseling services and a shelter for rape and abuse victims.
He added, however, his objections are based on questions about how the fee was established, the extent of its application and whether the commission is the appropriate body to increase a judicial fee that may be considered a "tax."
The fee initially was approved by state lawmakers in 1992 and was increased to $4 in 2014. Cole County is believed to have adopted the $2 fee sometime before 2005.
State law says the fee applies to "each criminal case." Hoelscher cited the broad application as a concern, saying he would be more agreeable to a fee that applied specifically to assault and abuse cases.
A final point of disagreement is whether what state law specifies as a "surcharge" can be construed as a "tax," as characterized by Hoelscher.
The definition is subject to interpretation.
Bushman and Henrickson do not consider it a tax, and we don't either.
We encourage the Cole County Commission to reconsider the fee increase to continue needed services and shelter for rape and abuse victims.