Frequently Asked Questions
The legal aid filing fee surcharge is $26 on new civil actions and proceedings in Ohio municipal courts, county courts and courts of common pleas. The legal aid filing fee surcharge is $11 on small claims actions and proceedings in Ohio municipal courts and county courts. The legal aid filing fee surcharge is $15 for juvenile court actions involving custody, visitation and parentage. For actions originally filed as a small claims action that are later transferred to the general civil division of a court, an additional $15 shall be assessed. $1 or 4% of the surcharge is aside by the Treasurer of State to support the state public defender’s office. The court shall not waive the above fees unless all other filing fee surcharges are waived.
The money collected from the surcharge goes to the Legal Aid Fund held at the Treasurer of State and benefits the charitable public purpose of providing financial assistance to legal aid societies that operate within the state.
The legal aid filing fee surcharge must be paid to the clerk when the action or proceeding is filed. Typically, the fee is included in the security deposit amount collected by the court. The legal aid filing fee surcharge is then deducted from the security deposit and remitted to the Treasurer of State’s office by the clerk of court on or before the twentieth day of the month following the month the surcharge was collected. If the fee remittance is made by the court later than the 20th day of the month following the collection, the court shall forfeit the 1% administration fee.
Forms and online payment options can be obtained from the Treasurer of State’s website at https://payments.tos.ohio.gov/ReparationsRotary. Per OAC 113-1-06, all payments of $100.00 or more must be made by electronic funds transfer through the Treasurer of State’s online payment processing system. Information required for filing fee remittances include the number of cases filed for small claims, civil, domestic relations, juvenile, no fee and number of cases moving from small claims to civil.
If you are a local court and have questions about the Reparations Rotary Payment Processing System, call the Treasurer of State at 614-466-2160. If you have questions about the legal aid filing fee surcharge call the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation at (614) 715-8560 or toll-free at (800) 877-9772.