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2000 SESSION
005797548Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 19.2-353.3 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 19.2-353.3. Acceptance of checks and credit cards in lieu of money; additional fee.
Notwithstanding the provisions of § 19.2-353, personal checks and credit cards
shall be accepted in lieu of money to collect and secure all fees, fines,
restitution, forfeiture, penalties and costs collected for offenses tried in a
district court, including motor vehicle violations, committed against the
Commonwealth or against any county, city or town. Notwithstanding the
provisions of § 19.2-353, personal checks shall may be accepted in lieu of
money to collect and secure all fees, fines, restitution, forfeiture, penalties
and costs collected for offenses tried in a circuit court, including motor
vehicle violations, committed against the Commonwealth or against any county,
city or town. The clerk of any circuit court shall not be required to but may,
in his discretion, accept credit card payment in lieu of money to collect and
secure all fees, fines, restitution, forfeitures, penalties, and costs
collected for such offenses. The Committee on District Courts shall devise a
procedure for approving and accepting checks and credit cards that shall be
accepted by the district courts. Court personnel shall not be held to be
guarantors of the payment made in such manner and shall not be personally
liable for any sums uncollected. The clerk of the court, in addition to any
fees, fines, restitution, forfeiture, penalties or costs, may add to such
payment a sum not to exceed four percent of the amount paid as a service charge
for the acceptance of a credit card.
If a check is returned unpaid by the financial institution on which it is drawn or notice is received from the credit card issuer that payment will not be made, for any reason, the fine, restitution, forfeiture, penalty or costs shall be treated as unpaid, and the court may pursue all available remedies to obtain payment. The clerk of the court to whom the dishonored check or credit card was tendered may impose a fee of twenty dollars or ten percent of the value of the payment, whichever is greater, in addition to the fine and costs already imposed.
The clerk of court may refuse acceptance of checks or credit cards of an
individual if (i) he has been convicted of a violation of Chapter 6 (§ 18.2-168
et seq.) of Title 18.2 in which a check, credit card, or credit card information was
used to commit the offense, (ii) he has previously tendered to the court a
check which was not ultimately honored or a credit card or credit card
information which did not ultimately result in payment by the credit card
issuer, (iii) authorization of payment is not given by the bank or credit card
issuer, (iv) the validity of the check or credit card cannot be verified, or
(v) the payee of the check is other than the court.