House Republican Leader Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, on Wednesday issued the following statement after the House and Senate approved a standalone bill to authorize continued collection of court costs from convicted criminals:

“Why is supporting our law enforcement always such a fight with the House Democrats? House Republicans had a plan in place months ago to fix this issue and keep our courts open and operating, but it got held up by a bunch of left-wing politics trying to defund local communities. Republicans stuck together and rejected that nonsense by the House Democrats, and that is why this bill passed clean today. House Republicans will always stand together to support law enforcement.”

The House and Senate approved House Bill 5392, which allows courts to continue collecting reasonable costs from convicted criminals, authority that was otherwise scheduled to expire May 1. The House rejected HB 5534, which instructed the State Court Administrative Office to study what to do if the state stopped collecting court costs from criminals and to put together a proposal for a statewide collection and redistribution of virtually all court revenues.