State v. Breneman, 2014 Ohio 1102

Defendant James D. Breneman was convicted by a jury of third-degree felony possession of cocaine following a retrial and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment plus three years post-release control.
At sentencing the prosecutor asked that “costs of the case” be paid; the court announced that Breneman would be ordered to pay “costs” in open court.
The written judgment, however, specifically ordered Breneman to “pay back the legal fees” incurred for his court-appointed counsel.
Breneman, who had appointed counsel at trial, appealed the portion of the sentence requiring him to repay legal fees.
The State relied on R.C. 2941.51(D) to justify recouping court-appointed counsel fees, but the trial court never pronounced the specific legal-fee obligation in open court.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court properly imposed repayment of legal fees as "costs"	State: court may order defendant to pay costs under R.C. 2941.51(D)	Breneman: court improperly added legal-fee repayment in the judgment entry only; such fees cannot be taxed as costs and must be pursued civilly	Vacated: court erred to order repayment as costs; that obligation must be pursued in a separate civil action and costs must be pronounced in open court
Whether costs must be pronounced in open court	State: announced ‘‘costs’’ at sentencing satisfied requirement	Breneman: specific legal-fee obligation was not pronounced in open court	Reversed as to legal-fee portion: failure to pronounce the exact legal-fee obligation in open court violated defendant’s rights; judgment entry alone insufficient

State v. Crenshaw, 145 Ohio App.3d 86 (2001) (county may seek reimbursement of appointed-counsel fees but the action must be prosecuted civilly; fees approved under statute shall not be taxed as costs)