Governor McDonnell will propose an increase to the mandatory statutory fee for conviction of crimes. The fee for a misdemeanor will increase from $5 to $15, and the fee for a felony will increase from $15 to $40.
Bob McDonnell said the state should earn more revenue from crime when he ran for governor in 2009.
So he pledged, in his public safety plan, he would "propose an increase to the mandatory statutory fee for conviction of crimes.”
McDonnell was talking about fees that defendants convicted of misdemeanors or felonies must pay when their cases require the work of a commonwealth's attorney or a municipal attorney.
The Republican said he would try to raise the $5 criminal court fee for a misdemeanor conviction to $15 and the $15 fee for a felony to $40. McDonnell noted that the felony charge had not increased in a decade and the misdemeanor fee had been unchanged for more than 40 years.
McDonnell said the added revenues should go to drug courts -- adjudication programs across Virginia in which non-violent drug offenders, instead of being incarcerated, are put under intensive supervision and substance abuse treatment.
State Sen. Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover, introduced a bill with the fees proposed by McDonnell in January 2010. The measure, projected to generate $632,500 a year in new revenues, was incorporated into the state budget and the higher fees remain in effect today.
We rate this a Promise Kept.