The cost of filing a personal-injury lawsuit or other civil matter in DuPage County would increase by $2 next year under a plan to raise the funds needed to support the children’s waiting room facility at the county courthouse in Wheaton.
The County Board’s Judicial Committee voted Monday to recommend that the county adopt the $2 fee, effective Jan. 1.
The surcharge would raise $80,000 to $90,000 a year, officials said, and would be one of eight such add-on fees that the county is authorized to collect on filings in civil court.
More Top Picks Best Monitor Light Bars For Eye Strain
The fee would be added to about 40,000 cases a year, said Joel Kagan, clerk of the Circuit Court.
Children’s waiting rooms are intended to give youngsters a place to stay while their parents are in court, often involved in divorce proceedings that are acrimonious. The waiting room on the first floor of the DuPage courthouse, called Safe Harbor, opened about a year ago. It has been funded with private donations.