This year the WV Legislature enacted SB 458, a bill that increased various fees payable to by Circuit Court clerks for filing civil actions, effective July 1, 2014. The general civil filing fee in Circuit Court went from $135 to $200. Crossclaims, counterclaims, and third party intervenor motions which never had filing fees before now also require a $200 filing fee. No party is required to pay more than one of these filing fees in a particular action.
The $200 filing fee also applies to some family court petitions. The change does not affect petitions for divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment which still cost $135 to file or petitions for modifications for custody or support which still cost $85.
Magistrate court filing fees did not change, though the new fees apply to motions to remove cases from Magistrate Court to Circuit Court.
Of course, the increases and new fees do not apply to any person who gets a filing fee waived for being low income.
The revenue from the new fees and fee increases goes to the Fund for Civil Legal Services for Low Income Persons.
