CARLTON VARNES, PETITIONER,
v.
LOUIE L. WAINWRIGHT, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, THE STATE OF FLORIDA, ET AL., RESPONDENTS
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Varnes sought habeas corpus relief to compel the clerk to docket his notice of appeal from a Rule 3.850 motion denial without payment of filing fees. The court held that Florida appellate courts have internal rules waiving fees for appeals arising from criminal convictions, and that the clerk improperly refused to file the notice of appeal.
No filing fees may be required for appeals from Rule 3.850 motions in criminal cases. The District Court of Appeal's Internal Rule 7 explicitly provides that notices of appeal from Rule 3.850 orders shall be filed and docketed without payment of any fee or costs, consistent with Florida's rules on habeas corpus proceedings in criminal cases.
[1] A clerk of court may not require a filing fee for a notice of appeal from an order denying a motion for post-conviction relief.
[2] Internal rules of an appellate court can waive filing fees for certain types of appeals, including those from orders on motions for post-conviction relief.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The Clerk of this Court shall file and docket each certified copy of notice of appeal from an order entered on a motion for relief under the provisions of Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 3.850, without the payment of any fee or costs”
Establishes the clear rule that appeals from Rule 3.850 motions must be filed without fees
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceVarnes filed a timely notice of appeal from a circuit court order denying his motion to vacate and set aside his conviction under Florida Rule of Crim…
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SMITH, Acting Chief Judge.
By petition for habeas corpus Varnes demands that the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Columbia County receive and docket his timely notice of appeal from a circuit court order denying his motion to vacate and set aside the judgment of his conviction, Fla.R. Cr.P. 3.850. The clerk returned Varnes’ notice of appeal to him because it was not tendered with the prescribed filing fee.
Rule 7 of the Internal Rules of this Court, adopted June 3, 1974, provides:
The Clerk of this Court shall file and docket each certified copy of notice of appeal from an order entered on a motion for relief under the provisions of Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 3.850, without the payment of any fee or costs, in like manner and to the same extent as in habeas corpus proceedings or appeals therefrom, arising out of, or in connection with criminal causes or convictions as is now provided in Florida Appellate Rule 2.2b(6) [as amended in Fla.R.Jud.Admin. 2.040(b)(3)].
No clerk or trial court in this district, from which an appeal may be taken to this Court from an order entered on a motion for relief under Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 3.850, shall require the payment of any fee or any costs upon the filing of any such notice of appeal, but he shall file any such notice of appeal in the cause from which the appeal is taken and transmit a certified copy thereof to the Clerk of this Court with advice that, in accordance with this rule, no filing fee was deposited.
Our Rule 7 was adopted pursuant to Section 35.07, Florida Statutes (1977), which authorizes us, subject to the Supreme Court’s rulemaking power, to “make such regulations as necessary for the internal government of the court.” Rule 7 is not inconsistent with Fla.R.Jud.Admin. 2.040(b) (3), concerning internal government of the district courts of appeal, and providing:
“The payment of the fee or any costs shall not be required in habeas corpus proceedings or appeals therefrom, arising out of or in connection with criminal actions.”
The clerk of the circuit court no doubt acted without knowledge of this court’s internal Rule 7, which was previously distributed but is now more formally published by this opinion. The clerk of this court will docket Varnes’ appeal and the clerk of the circuit court will forthwith transmit the record in accordance with Fla.R.App.P. 9.140(g).
The prayer of the petition is GRANTED.
ERVIN and BOOTH, JJ., concur.