BLOOMINGTON - Adding $8 to court filing fees will be reconsidered by the McLean County Board after the county administrator has a chance to look at how the Family Visitation Center is funded.

The center provides a neutral site for custody exchanges between parents who are prevented by court order from having contact with each other. One parent drops off the child and leaves, and the other parent comes later.

County Board member Ann Harding is a member of the board's justice committee, which recommended the fee be added to court filings. She recommended County Administrator John Zeunik be brought into the discussion.

"Maybe we in committee are not asking the right questions and he can give us some ideas," Harding said.

The board discussed the need for the fee and how the center is funded for about 30 minutes after Board Member William Caisley argued that adding more filing fees is not fair to users of the civil court system.

The center gets its money from user fees and federal grants. The parents' fees are based on their ability to pay, and the federal grants have an uncertain future.

Caisley is a retired judge who opposed previous increases in the filing fees. Anyone filing a civil case from landlords seeking evictions to business owners in a contract dispute would be subject to paying the fee.

Lisa Piper, a representative of the program, said they are not allowed to add the fee to marriage licenses, and filing fees was the most acceptable option.