Art. 405. Court or witness fees; travel expenses

            A. Except as otherwise provided by law, no court or witness fees shall be allowed against any party to a petition, and no salaried officer of the state or of any parish or municipality therein shall be entitled to receive any fee for the service or for attendance in court in any such proceedings. Except as otherwise provided in R.S. 13:4521, all other persons acting under orders of the court may be paid in the same manner as in the district court for services or service of process and attendance or serving as witnesses, the fees provided by law for like services in cases before the district court.

            B. The court may authorize the payment of necessary travel expenses to witnesses attending in response to summons. Travel expenses, when authorized by the court, shall be paid from the general fund of the parish or other funds available to the court. Except in proceedings initiated by the state, the court may authorize the payment of curator expenses and fees, which, if so authorized, shall be fixed by the court and paid by petitioners.

            C. The court may charge a reasonable court cost or charge fees for adoption cases which are payable in the same manner as fees in ordinary civil proceedings. If a case is referred for mediation, the costs of mediation may be taxed as court costs, which shall not exceed fifty dollars.

            D. In municipalities with a population in excess of four hundred thousand inhabitants, in all proceedings under Chapter 1 of Title XIII^1,3 after a conviction or plea of guilty, the court in its discretion, instead of imposing the punishment or fine, or both, provided therein, having issued an order directing the defendant to pay a certain sum weekly or at such periods as the court may direct, may assess costs against the defendant not to exceed five percent of all sums paid weekly or periodically through the registry of the court.

            E. In parishes having a population between two hundred twenty-five thousand and four hundred fifty thousand, in all proceedings under Chapter 1 of Title XIII^1,3 where the defendant has violated the terms of such order as provided therein and the defendant is adjudged guilty of contempt by failing to comply with the judgment or order of the court by paying the support assessed, the court may assess costs against the defendant in an amount not to exceed five percent of the fine imposed by the court for the contempt of its order or judgment; however, in no case shall the fine and costs together exceed the sum of five hundred dollars.

            F. All such costs so assessed and collected shall remain with the court and shall be deposited in the judicial expense fund of such court.

            G. In all cases in which support rights have been assigned to the Department of Children and Family Services as a condition of eligibility for Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program (FITAP) and in all civil, criminal, or juvenile support proceedings initiated by the department on its own behalf or on behalf of a non-FITAP applicant, the provisions of Chapter 2 of Title XIII^2,3 shall apply as to imposition of a collection fee against the person owing the support obligation.

            Acts 1991, No. 235, §4, eff. Jan. 1, 1992; Acts 1999, No. 894, §1; Acts 2017, No. 239, §1.

¹AS APPEARS IN ENROLLED BILL. TITLE XIII OF THE CHILDREN'S CODE WAS NOT ENACTED INTO LAW. SEE NOW, GENERALLY, R.S. 14:74 ET SEQ.

²AS APPEARS IN ENROLLED BILL. TITLE XIII OF THE CHILDREN'S CODE WAS NOT ENACTED INTO LAW. SEE NOW, GENERALLY, R.S. 14:236.1 ET SEQ.

³ALTHOUGH SUBSEQUENTLY ENACTED BY ACTS 1993, NO. 442, TITLE XIII GOVERNS PROCEEDINGS UNRELATED TO THIS ARTICLE.