Aside from their broad applicability, little overlap exists in the
language of these states’ laws. Florida’s statute is the narrowest of
the four, limiting reimbursement to administrative costs.29 The statute
exempts acquitted defendants from liability for “costs or fees of the
court or any ministerial office,” as well as “any charge of
subsistence” that may have accrued while the defendant was held in
custody.30 Missouri divides the reimbursement costs between the
State and the county by statutorily declaring the State responsible for
“the costs” when the defendant is acquitted in a capital case or a case
“in which imprisonment in the penitentiary is the sole punishment
for the offense”;31 in all other trials, the county in which “the
indictment was found or information filed” is responsible for
reimbursing the costs of acquitted defendants.32
29.