SAMUEL LOPEZ
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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A trial court must ensure the basis for imposed costs is evident from the record, and when it fails to orally pronounce the amount of a probation supervision cost for misdemeanor probation, only the statutory minimum of $40.00 per month may be imposed.
[1] Due process requires that the basis for court costs imposed at sentencing be evident from the record, and costs lacking such evidentiary support must be reversed and rema…
[2] When a trial court fails to orally pronounce the amount of a probation supervision cost for misdemeanor probation at sentencing, the court is authorized to impose only th…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“due process requires that it at least be evident from the record.”
Regarding the requirement that the basis for imposed costs be evident from the record
Samuel Lopez was convicted of battery, a misdemeanor. At sentencing, the trial court imposed court costs of $223, a DERP fee of $50, and a probation s…
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SIXTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
_____________________________
Case No. 6D2024-0599 Lower Tribunal No. 23-MM-006220-AOR _____________________________
SAMUEL LOPEZ, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. _____________________________
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Orange County. Faye L. Allen, Judge.
February 6, 2026
MIZE, J.
Appellant, Samuel Lopez, appeals his conviction and sentence for battery, a misdemeanor. We find no error as to Appellant’s conviction and affirm the conviction without further discussion. As to his sentence, Appellant argues that the trial court erred by, among other things: (1) imposing court costs as a lump sum of $223 without providing any notice as to what the costs represent; (2) imposing a “DERP fee” of $50 without notice as to the authority for the fee; and (3) imposing a
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$50 per month probation supervision fee without orally pronouncing the amount of the fee at his sentencing. Appellant is correct as to these issues.1
As we have said previously, while a trial court is not required to explain the basis for an imposed cost, “due process requires that it at least be evident from the record.” Culbertson v. State, No. 6D2023-3024, 2025 WL 3493140, at *1 (Fla. 6th DCA Dec. 5, 2025). Because the basis for the $223 in courts costs and the $50 “DERP fee” imposed by the trial court is not evident from the record, we reverse the imposition of the court costs and the DERP fee and remand for the trial court to properly impose costs in Appellant’s sentence.
As we have also said, “[w]hen a trial court fails to orally pronounce the amount of a probation supervision cost for misdemeanor probation at a defendant’s sentencing, the court is only authorized to impose the minimum cost of $40.00 per month required by statute.” Summerson v. State, 374 So. 3d 898, 899 (Fla. 6th DCA 2023). Therefore, we reverse the portion of Appellant’s sentence imposing the probation cost of $50.00 per month and remand this case to the trial court to impose a probation cost of $40.00 per month.
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Appellant raises other arguments as to his sentence, but we find no merit in the remaining arguments and affirm the sentence in all other respects.
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; and REMANDED with instructions. TRAVER, C.J., and WHITE, J., concur.
Blair Allen, Public Defender, and William L. Sharwell, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
James Uthmeier, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Alyssa M. Williams, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.