(1) It shall be lawful for the magistrate to refuse to do any act for which any fee is demandable unless such fee is first paid. However, the prepayment of fees shall not be required from any public officer in any cause or matter, criminal or civil, in the court in respect of which he or she is acting in the performance of a duty by law devolving upon him or her.
But in criminal proceedings such fees shall where they would ordinarily be payable be taken as paid for the purpose of assessing any costs which the magistrate may order to be paid.
(2) The magistrate shall have power, in any proceeding in which good cause appears to him or her for so doing, to suspend payment of any fees payable therein until the conclusion of such proceeding, and he or she may then direct that such fees shall be waived, or that such fees shall be paid as costs by any party to the proceeding by whom he or she has power to order costs to be paid.