18 U.S.C. § 3013
Section 3013 · Special assessment on convicted persons
Amended 6 times on record
Applied in 556 court decisions — leading case United States v. Williams (2008)
Most recently applied in United States v. Gregory Johnson (March 2025)
Applied most in the Ninth Circuit Circuit (77 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 21 U.S.C. § 841 · 18 U.S.C. § 3553 · 28 U.S.C. § 2255
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) The court shall assess on any person convicted of an offense against the United States—
(1) in the case of an infraction or a misdemeanor—
(A) if the defendant is an individual—
(i) the amount of $5 in the case of an infraction or a class C misdemeanor;
(ii) the amount of $10 in the case of a class B misdemeanor; and
(iii) the amount of $25 in the case of a class A misdemeanor; and
(B) if the defendant is a person other than an individual—
(i) the amount of $25 in the case of an infraction or a class C misdemeanor;
(ii) the amount of $50 in the case of a class B misdemeanor; and
(iii) the amount of $125 in the case of a class A misdemeanor;
(2) in the case of a felony—
(A) the amount of $100 if the defendant is an individual; and
(B) the amount of $400 if the defendant is a person other than an individual.
(b) Such amount so assessed shall be collected in the manner that fines are collected in criminal cases.
(c) The obligation to pay an assessment ceases five years after the date of the judgment. This subsection shall apply to all assessments irrespective of the date of imposition.
(d) For the purposes of this section, an offense under section 13 of this title is an offense against the United States.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1996—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 104–294 struck out “not less than” before “$100” in subpar. (A) and before “$400” in subpar. (B).
Pub. L. 104–132 substituted “not less than $100” for “$50” in subpar. (A) and “not less than $400” for “$200” in subpar. (B).
1990—Subsec. (a)(1)(B). Pub. L. 101–647 substituted “an infraction” for “a infraction” in cl. (i) and a semicolon for a period at end of cl. (iii).
1988—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 100–690, §7085, amended par. (1) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (1) read as follows: “in the case of a misdemeanor—
“(A) the amount of $25 if the defendant is an individual; and
“(B) the amount of $100 if the defendant is a person other than an individual; and”.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 100–690, §7082(b), inserted at end “This subsection shall apply to all assessments irrespective of the date of imposition.”
1987—Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 100–185 added subsecs. (c) and (d).
Effective Date of 1996 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 104–132 effective, to extent constitutionally permissible, for sentencing proceedings in cases in which defendant is convicted on or after Apr. 24, 1996, see section 211 of Pub. L. 104–132, set out as a note under section 2248 of this title.
Effective Date
Section effective 30 days after Oct. 12, 1984, see section 1409(a) of Pub. L. 98–473, set out as a note under section 10601 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.