Data Explorer: Ability to pay | 50 State Criminal Justice Debt Tool

Ability to Pay

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	State	Statute	Description/Statute Name	Statutory language	Level of offense	Definition of ability to pay	Timeline	Burden of proof	Method of determination	Mandatory	Remedies if unable to pay
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Kentucky	Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 533.030(2)(l)	Conditions of probation and conditional discharge; restitution to victim	(2) When imposing a sentence of probation or conditional discharge, the court may, in addition to any other reasonable condition, require that the defendant: (l) Submit to periodic testing for the + See more use of controlled substances or alcohol, if the defendant's record indicates a controlled substance or alcohol problem, and to pay a reasonable fee, as determined by the court, which fee shall not exceed the actual cost of the test and analysis and shall be paid directly to the agency or agencies responsible for testing and analysis as compensation for the cost of the testing and analysis, as specified by written order of the court, performed under this subsection. For good cause shown, the testing fee may be waived by the court;	All	Not provided for	Not provided for	Not provided for	Determined by judge without hearing	No	Fee waived
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Kentucky	Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 24A.178(3)	Additional fee for sex crime, stalking, or related inchoate offenses	The court may waive all or any portion of the fee required by this section if the court finds that a person subject to the surcharge is indigent or financially + See more unable to pay all or any portion of the surcharge. The court may waive only the portion of the surcharge that the court finds the person is financially unable to pay.	All	"Indigent or financially unable to pay"	Not provided for	Not provided for	Not provided for	No	Waiver of fee
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Kentucky	Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 441.265(2)(b)	Required reimbursement by prisoner of costs of confinement; local policy of fee and expense rates; billing and collection methods	(b) Rates charged may be adjusted in accordance with the fee and expense reimbursement policy based upon the ability of the prisoner confined to the jail to pay, giving consideration to + See more any legal obligation of the prisoner to support a spouse, minor children, or other dependents. The prisoner's interest in any jointly owned property and the income, assets, earnings, or other property owned by the prisoner's spouse or family shall not be used to determine a prisoner's ability to pay.	All	Not provided for	Not provided for	Not provided for	Administrative decision	No	Not specified
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Kentucky	Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 532.454(5)	Persons prohibited from probation or postincarceration supervision; procedure when probation or postincarceration supervision not prohibited	(5) The offender shall pay for any evaluation or treatment required pursuant to this section up to the offender's ability to pay but not more than the actual cost of + See more the comprehensive sex offender presentence evaluation or treatment.	All	Not provided for	Before imposition of fine or fee	Not provided for	Administrative decision	No	N/A
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Kentucky	Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 532.354(1)	Copayment for medical treatment	(1) A local government may require prisoners to make a reasonable copayment in advance of medical treatment received through a regional jail facility. No prisoner shall be denied medical treatment + See more by reason of indigency, but a prisoner may be required to pay for medical treatment as part of any reimbursement order entered by the sentencing court.	All	Indigency	Not provided for	Not provided for	Not provided for	No	N/A
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Kentucky	Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 532.352	Reimbursement for costs of incarceration	(1) The sentencing court may order a person who is sentenced to a term of incarceration for any nonstatus juvenile offense, moving traffic violation, criminal violation, misdemeanor, or Class D + See more felony offense to reimburse the state or local government for the costs of his incarceration. The reimbursements paid under this subsection shall be credited to the local government sinking fund. (2) The sentencing court shall determine the amount of incarceration costs to be paid based on the following factors: (a) The actual per diem, per person, cost of incarceration; (b) The cost of medical services provided to a prisoner less any copayment paid by the prisoner; and (c) The prisoner's ability to pay all or part of his incarceration costs.	All	Not provided for	Not provided for	Not provided for	Not provided for	No	N/A
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Kentucky	Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 534.040	Fines for misdemeanors and violations	(4) Fines required by this section shall not be imposed upon any person determined by the court to be indigent pursuant to KRS Chapter 31.	Misdemeanor	Indigent	Before imposition of fine or fee	Not provided for	Determined by judge without hearing	No	Not provided for
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Kentucky	Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 23A.205	Court costs for criminal cases in Circuit Court; payment required; exceptions	(1) Court costs for a criminal case in the Circuit Court shall be one hundred dollars ($100). (2) The taxation of court costs against a defendant, upon conviction in a + See more case, shall be mandatory and shall not be subject to probation, suspension, proration, deduction, or other form of nonimposition in the terms of a plea bargain or otherwise, unless the court finds that the defendant is a poor person as defined by KRS 453.190(2) and that he or she is unable to pay court costs and will be unable to pay the court costs in the foreseeable future. (3) If the court finds that the defendant does not meet the standard articulated in subsection (2) of this section and that the defendant is nonetheless unable to pay the full amount of the court costs, fees, or fines at the time of sentencing, then the court may establish an installment payment plan in accordance with KRS 534.020.	All	"A poor person" as defined by statute.	Not provided for	Not provided for	Not provided for	No	Fee probation, suspension, proration, deduction, or other form of nonimposition
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Kentucky	Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 23A.208(3)	Additional fee for sex crime, stalking, or related inchoate offenses	(3) The court may waive all or any portion of the fee required by this section if the court finds that a person subject to the surcharge is indigent or + See more financially unable to pay all or any portion of the surcharge. The court may waive only the portion of the surcharge that the court finds the person is financially unable to pay.	All	Not provided for	Before imposition of fine or fee	Not provided for	Determined by judge without hearing	No	Waive portion of surcharge.
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Mississippi	Miss. Code Ann. § 99-5-38 (8)	community service	The court may allow a defendant to perform community service in lieu of paying the costs required by subsection (2)(b) or (c) if the court determines that the defendant is + See more indigent.	Felony	indigence	Not provided for	Not provided for	Not provided for	No	community service
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Mississippi	Miss. Code Ann. § 47-5-1013 (a)	waiver	The sentencing judge may charge a program fee of less than Eighty-eight Dollars ($ 88.00) per month in cases of extreme financial hardship, when such judge determines that the offender's + See more participation in the program would provide a benefit to his community.	Misdemeanor	extreme financial hardship	Not provided for	Not provided for	Not provided for	No	lower fee
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Ohio	Ohio Rev. Code § 2949.092	Condition for waiver of specified additional court costs	If a person is convicted of or pleads guilty to an offense and the court specifically is required, pursuant to section 2743.70, 2949.091,2949.093, or 2949.094 of the Revised Code or pursuant to any other + See more section of the Revised Code to impose a specified sum of money as costs in the case in addition to any other costs that the court is required or permitted by law to impose in the case, the court shall not waive the payment of the specified additional court costs that the section of the Revised Code specifically requires the court to impose unless the court determines that the offender is indigent and the court waives the payment of all court costs imposed upon the offender.	All	Indigent	Not provided for	Not provided for	Not provided for	No	Fee waiver
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Ohio	Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.70(1)	Additional court costs and bail to be charged	(1) The court, in which any person is convicted of or pleads guilty to any offense other than a traffic offense that is not a moving violation, shall impose the following + See more sum as costs in the case in addition to any other court costs that the court is required by law to impose upon the offender: (a) Thirty dollars, if the offense is a felony; (b) Nine dollars, if the offense is a misdemeanor. The court shall not waive the payment of the thirty or nine dollars court costs, unless the court determines that the offender is indigent and waives the payment of all court costs imposed upon the indigent offender. All such moneys shall be transmitted on the first business day of each month by the clerk of the court to the treasurer of state and deposited by the treasurer in the reparations fund.	All	Indigent	Before imposition of fine or fee	Not provided for	Determined by judge without hearing	No	Fee waiver
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Ohio	Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.70(A)(2)	Additional costs in criminal cases in all courts to fund reparations payments	(2) The juvenile court in which a child is found to be a delinquent child or a juvenile traffic offender for an act which, if committed by an adult, would be + See more an offense other than a traffic offense that is not a moving violation, shall impose the following sum as costs in the case in addition to any other court costs that the court is required or permitted by law to impose upon the delinquent child or juvenile traffic offender: (a) Thirty dollars, if the act, if committed by an adult, would be a felony; (b) Nine dollars, if the act, if committed by an adult, would be a misdemeanor. The thirty or nine dollars court costs shall be collected in all cases unless the court determines the juvenile is indigent and waives the payment of all court costs, or enters an order on its journal stating that it has determined that the juvenile is indigent, that no other court costs are to be taxed in the case, and that the payment of the thirty or nine dollars court costs is waived. All such moneys collected during a month shall be transmitted on or before the twentieth day of the following month by the clerk of the court to the treasurer of state and deposited by the treasurer in the reparations fund.	Traffic	Indigent	Before imposition of fine or fee	Not provided for	Determined by judge without hearing	No	Likely no requirement to pay financial sanction
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Ohio	Ohio Rev. Code § 2949.091(A)(1)(b)	Fees and costs	The court shall not waive the payment of the additional thirty-, twenty-, or ten-dollar court costs, unless the court determines that the offender is indigent and waives the payment of + See more all court costs imposed upon the indigent offender.	All	Indigent	Before imposition of fine or fee	Not provided for	Determined by judge without hearing	No	Fee waiver
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Ohio	Ohio Rev. Code § 2949.091(A)(1)	Additional court costs or bail	(a) The court in which any person is convicted of or pleads guilty to any offense shall impose one of the following sums as costs in the case in addition to + See more any other court costs that the court is required by law to impose upon the offender: (i) Thirty dollars if the offense is a felony; (ii) Twenty dollars if the offense is a misdemeanor other than a traffic offense that is not a moving violation; (iii) Ten dollars if the offense is a traffic offense that is not a moving violation, excluding parking violations. (b) All moneys collected pursuant to division (A)(1)(a) of this section during a month shall be transmitted on or before the twentieth day of the following month by the clerk of the court to the treasurer of state and deposited by the treasurer of state to the credit of the indigent defense support fund established under section 120.08 of the Revised Code. The court shall not waive the payment of the additional thirty-, twenty-, or ten-dollar court costs, unless the court determines that the offender is indigent and waives the payment of all court costs imposed upon the indigent offender.	All	Indigent	Not provided for	Not provided for	Determined by judge without hearing	No	Fee waiver
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Ohio	Ohio Rev. Code § 2301.14	Taxing costs	The clerk of the court of common pleas in which the service of a court interpreter is rendered shall tax in the cost bill in such case, to be collected + See more as other costs, the sum of three dollars for each day of service of such interpreter, which fees shall be paid into the county treasury to the credit of the county fund. If the party taxed with costs is indigent, the clerk shall not tax the interpreter’s fees as costs, and the county shall pay the interpreter’s fees.	All	Indigent	Before imposition of fine or fee	Not provided for	Not provided for	No	County pays for the interpreter.
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Ohio	Ohio Rev. Code § 2151.54	Fees and costs	If a child is adjudicated to be a delinquent child or a juvenile traffic offender and the juvenile court specifically is required, by section 2743.70 or 2949.091 of the Revised Code or any + See more other section of the Revised Code, to impose a specified sum of money as court costs in addition to any other court costs that the court is required or permitted by law to impose, the court shall not waive the payment of the specified additional court costs that the section of the Revised Code specifically requires the court to impose unless the court determines that the child is indigent and the court either waives the payment of all court costs or enters an order in its journal stating that no court costs are to be taxed in the case.	All	Indigent	Before imposition of fine or fee	Not provided for	Determined by judge without hearing	No	Waives the payment of all court costs or enters an order in its journal stating that no court costs are to be taxed in the case
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Ohio	Ohio Rev. Code § 2929.28(B)	Financial Sanctions - misdemeanor	If the court determines a hearing is necessary, the court may hold a hearing to determine whether the offender is able to pay the financial sanction imposed pursuant to this + See more section or court costs or is likely in the future to be able to pay the sanction or costs. If the court determines that the offender is indigent and unable to pay the financial sanction or court costs, the court shall consider imposing and may impose a term of community service under division (A) of section 2929.27 of the Revised Code in lieu of imposing a financial sanction or court costs. If the court does not determine that the offender is indigent, the court may impose a term of community service under division (A) of section 2929.27 of the Revised Code in lieu of or in addition to imposing a financial sanction under this section and in addition to imposing court costs. The court may order community service for a minor misdemeanor pursuant to division (D) of section 2929.27 of the Revised Code in lieu of or in addition to imposing a financial sanction under this section and in addition to imposing court costs. If a person fails to pay a financial sanction or court costs, the court may order community service in lieu of the financial sanction or court costs.	Misdemeanor	Indigent	Before imposition of fine or fee	Not provided for	Determined by judge after hearing	No	Community service in lieu of restitution.
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Ohio	Ohio Rev. Code § 2953.32(C)(3)	Sealing of record of conviction or bail forfeiture	An applicant may request the sealing of the records of more than one case in a single application under this section. Upon the filing of an application under this section, + See more the applicant, unless indigent, shall pay a fee of fifty dollars, regardless of the number of records the application requests to have sealed.	All	Indigent	Before imposition of fine or fee	Not provided for	Not provided for	No	Likely no requirement to pay fee

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