Court fees for people in prison or jail

If you are in jail or prison, you must pay the full cost of the filing fees in the trial court (superior court). If you cannot afford the fees, you can ask to pay the fees over time. To ask to pay over time, turn in a fee waiver application certified by a jail or prison official along with a statement of your inmate trust account. Government code section 68635

How to ask for a fee waiver

  • Fill out fee waiver application

    Fill out the Request to Waive Court Fees (form FW-001). Write in your current address in jail or prison along with a statement that says you are incarcerated. Sign the form.

     

     

  • Attach a statement of account

    Attach a copy of your trust account statement that shows all deposits into the account and the account balance for the past 6 months.

  • Have the form certified and make copies

    Have a prison or jail official certify the form. Make 2 copies of the form. The original is for the court. 

  • Turn form in

    Turn in the original copy of the signed fee waiver form to the court clerk along with the papers you're filing. If you also turn in copies, the clerk can stamp the copies you have for your records.

    You send the forms by mail or have someone turn them in for you. If you send anything by mail, include a self-addressed and stamped envelope so the clerk can send stamped copies back to you.

  • Court takes initial fee

    The clerk will file your papers and charge an initial filing fee. The court can collect the fee from your inmate trust account.

    • If funds are available in your account, the court will collect 20% of either your average monthly deposits or the average monthly balance in your account for the past 6 months, whichever is greater.
    • If there are no funds, the clerk will still file your papers. But the court can continue to try to collect partial payments.

    The court will continue to collect partial payments each month until the fees are paid in full.