State v. Thomas, 2016 Ohio 1357

Defendant Shawn Thomas entered a no-contest plea to one count of felonious assault for an in-prison altercation and received an agreed three-year sentence concurrent with an existing sentence.
Sentencing occurred immediately after the plea; defense counsel requested that court costs be suspended because Thomas is indigent and serving an indefinite unrelated sentence.
The State did not respond to the request. The trial court assessed mandatory court costs but acknowledged Thomas’s current inability to pay and stated the obligation should be addressed in the future.
Thomas appealed solely arguing the trial court abused its discretion by imposing court costs without waiving them despite his indigency and counsel’s motion.
The appellate court found the record lacked any analysis of Thomas’s future ability to pay and reversed and remanded for the trial court to reconsider the motion to waive costs using appropriate factors.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred by assessing mandatory court costs against an indigent defendant without waiving them	State: R.C. 2947.23 requires assessment of costs; court may assess costs against indigents and collect from inmate accounts	Thomas: Trial court should have waived costs given indigency and counsel’s timely request and lack of ability to pay now or in future	Reversed and remanded: trial court abused discretion by imposing costs without analyzing defendant’s future ability to pay; must reconsider and address relevant factors

State v. Clevenger, 114 Ohio St.3d 258 (2007) (indigent defendants may be ordered to perform community service or have costs collected from inmate accounts)
State v. Threatt, 108 Ohio St.3d 277 (2006) (R.C. 2947.23 mandates assessment of costs but waiver for indigents is discretionary)
State v. White, 103 Ohio St.3d 580 (2004) (costs must be assessed and may be collected from indigent defendants)