A state commission is recommending the creation of a Trial Court Fund in Michigan, part of an effort to overhaul how local courts are funded more than a decade after the state Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to use fines levied against criminal defendants to pay for day-to-day operations.

In the 2014 case People v. Cunningham, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to impose the costs of operating local courts on defendants. Under the ruling, judges retain the ability to issue criminal fines as part of any sentencing, but extra costs and fees cannot be imposed on defendants solely to pay the costs of court operations.

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