Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...If this does not occur, and discretionary costs are made a condition of probation, they are to be stricken, and cannot be re-imposed. Id. at 1227 (internal citations, brackets, and quotation marks omitted). Here, the imposed crime lab costs exceeded the statutorily authorized amount of $100. See § 938.055, Fla....

...to cause serious injury a second degree felony and a level eight offense). The statutory reference for the $100 assessment for the Operating Trust Fund of the Department of Law Enforcement was also in error. The correct statutory citation should be section 938.055, Florida Statutes (2012), which became effective October 1, 2012....

...We affirm Juan Francisco Montanez's judgment and sentence for trafficking in twenty-eight grams or more of heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia, but we reverse and remand the imposition of the $100 cost for the FDLE Operating Trust Fund pursuant to section 938.055, Florida Statutes (2018). The trial court failed to orally pronounce this cost at sentencing. See *1266 Cain v. State , 197 So.3d 1096 , 1096 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016) (reversing and remanding $100 cost for FDLE Operating Trust Fund pursuant to section 938.055, because trial court failed to orally pronounce cost at sentencing hearing but noting that trial court could reimpose cost on remand)....

... In this Anders 1 appeal, we affirm Joseph Youngblood’s judgment and sentences in each of L.T. Case Nos. 2022-CF-000332, 2022-CF-000333, 2022-CF-000334, and 2022-CF-000335. However, we reverse and remand: the imposition of the $400.00 ($100.00 x 4) cost pursuant to section 938.055, Florida Statutes (FDLE Operating Trust Fund) in L.T. Case No. 2022-CF- 000332; the imposition of the $200.00 ($100.00 x 2) cost pursuant to section 938.055, Florida Statutes (FDLE Operating Trust Fund) in L.T. Case No. 2022-CF-000333; the imposition of the $200.00 ($100.00 x 2) cost pursuant to section 938.055, Florida Statutes (FDLE Operating Trust Fund) in L.T. Case 2022-CF-000334; and the imposition of the $200.00 ($100.00 x 2) cost pursuant to section 938.055, Florida Statutes (FDLE Operating Trust Fund) in L.T. Case No....

...We affirm Appellant’s ' judgment and sentence for sale or delivery of cocaine, but based on thé state’s proper concession of error in response to our Harrison or'der, 1 we reverse the imposition of the $100 cost for the FDLE Operating Trust Fund pursuant to section 938.055, Florida Statutes, and the .$100 sheriffs investigative cost pursuant to section 938.27....

...We affirm Appellant’s judgment and sentence for sale or delivery of cocaine, but based on the state’s proper concession of error in response to our Harrison order,1 we reverse the imposition of the $100 cost for the FDLE Operating Trust Fund pursuant to section 938.055, Florida Statutes, and the $100 sheriff’s investigative cost pursuant to section 938.27....

...We affirm Juan Francisco Montanez's judgment and sentence for trafficking in twenty-eight grams or more of heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia, but we reverse and remand the imposition of the $100 cost for the FDLE Operating Trust Fund pursuant to section 938.055, Florida Statutes (2018). The trial court failed to orally pronounce this cost at sentencing. See *1266 Cain v. State , 197 So.3d 1096 , 1096 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016) (reversing and remanding $100 cost for FDLE Operating Trust Fund pursuant to section 938.055, because trial court failed to orally pronounce cost at sentencing hearing but noting that trial court could reimpose cost on remand)....

...Although the State conceded error, the trial court did not rule on Harris’s motion within sixty days. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.800(b)(2)(B). This appeal followed. “This court reviews a motion to correct a sentencing error de novo.” Guadagno v. State, 291 So. 3d 962, 962 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020).  Pursuant to section 938.055, Florida Statutes (2019), a trial court may impose a cost of $100.00 to be paid to the FDLE’s Operating Trust Fund when a defendant “pleads guilty or nolo contendere to, or is convicted of, a violation of any provision of chapters 775-896.” This cost becomes mandatory “if the services of a local county-operated crime laboratory . . . are used in connection with the investigation” of the defendant’s crime. § 938.055, Fla. Stat. (2019) (utilizing the word “shall” when mentioning this cost). As such, the trial court must impose a $100.00 cost pursuant to section 938.055 when the State uses a crime lab in its investigation....

...We affirm without discussion in part and reverse in part. We reverse on two issues. First, the circuit court’s written cost order included a $200 cost of prosecution pursuant to section 938.27, Florida Statutes (2022), and $100 operating trust fund pursuant to section 938.055, Florida Statutes (2022). The State concedes that the record does not contain sufficient findings to justify the $200 in prosecution costs and also concedes that the $100 discretionary cost must be reversed....

...proof of higher fees or costs incurred” as required by the statute. Accordingly, we reverse this imposition. IV. Last, Hartfield challenges the imposition of a $100 Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) fee under section 938.055, Florida Statutes, arguing the imposition was improper because the State did not request it. The State maintains the cost is mandatory. We disagree with both readings of the statute. Section 938.055 states that [A] court may assess a defendant who pleads guilty or nolo contendere ....

...This amount shall be assessed if the services of a local county-operated crime laboratory enumerated in s. 943.35(1) are used in connection with the investigation or prosecution of a violation of any provision of chapters 775-896. § 938.055, Fla....

...But a trial court must afford the defendant notice and an opportunity to be heard before it may impose a discretionary cost at sentencing. See Nix v. State, 84 So. 3d 424, 426 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012). Because no notice and an opportunity to be heard on the cost was provided, the $100 cost under section 938.055 is reversed....