50-State Criminal Justice Debt Reform Builder Bringing transparency to areas of significant legal complexity.
Ability to Pay
Keyword search across all of the laws in the states. Subject-area tabs above allow you to narrow results. Click the advanced search for further refinement.
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Below are the ability to pay laws that meet your search criteria. Many include a See related provisions prompt which searches our database for laws that may pertain to your result.
7 Results
| 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 | |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. § 12.55.045(g),(j),(k) | Restitution and Compensation |
(g) The court may not, in ordering the amount of restitution, consider the defendant’s ability to pay restitution; (j) A defendant who is convicted of an offense for which restitution may be ordered shall submit financial information as ordered by the court. The Alaska Court System shall prepare a form, in consultation with the Department of Law, for the submission of the information; the form must include a warning that submission of incomplete or inaccurate information is punishable as unsworn falsification in the second degree under AS 11.56.210. A defendant who is convicted of (1) a felony shall submit the form to the probation office within 30 days after conviction, and the probation officer shall attach the form to the presentence report, or (2) a misdemeanor shall file the form with the defendant’s response or opposition to the restitution amount. The defendant shall provide a copy of the completed form to the prosecuting authority; (k) The court, on its own motion or at the request of the prosecuting authority or probation officer, may order a defendant on probation who has been ordered to pay restitution to submit financial information to the court using the form specified in (j) of this section. The defendant shall file the completed form with the court within five days after the court’s order. The defendant shall provide a copy of the completed form to the prosecuting authority and the person’s probation officer, if any.
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All | Not provided for | Not provided for | Not provided for | Not provided for | No | Not provided for |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. § 18.85.155(a) | Payment by Municipality |
When a municipality prosecutes a person who has been determined by the court to be indigent under AS 18.85.120 for a violation of a municipal ordinance that is a serious crime, the municipality shall pay for the services of the attorney appointed by the court to defend the indigent person.
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All |
"Indigent under AS 18.85.120" |
Not provided for | Not provided for | Not provided for | Yes |
The municipality shall pay for the services of the attorney appointed by the court to defend the indigent person. |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. § 33.30.028(b) | Responsibility for Costs of Medical Care |
The commissioner shall require prisoners who are without resources under (a) of this section to pay the costs of medical, psychological, and psychiatric care provided to them by the department. At a minimum, the prisoner shall be required to pay a portion of the costs based upon the prisoner’s ability to pay.
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All | Not provided for | Not provided for | Not provided for | Administrative decision | No |
Required to pay a portion of the costs. |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. § 12.55.100(f) | Conditions of Probation |
While on probation and as a special condition of probation for an offense where the aggravating factor provided in AS 12.55.155(c)(29) has been proven or admitted, the court shall require that the defendant submit to electronic monitoring. Electronic monitoring under this subsection must provide for monitoring of the defendant’s location and movements by Global Positioning System technology. The court shall require a defendant serving a period of probation with electronic monitoring as provided under this subsection to pay all or a portion of the costs of the electronic monitoring, but only if the defendant has sufficient financial resources to pay the costs or a portion of the costs. A defendant subject to electronic monitoring under this subsection is not entitled to a credit for time served in a correctional facility while the defendant is on probation. In this subsection, “correctional facility” has the meaning given in AS 33.30.901.
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All |
"Sufficient financial resources to pay the costs or a portion of the costs." |
Not provided for | Not provided for | Not provided for | No | Not provided for |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. § 09.19.010 | Limitation on Exemption From Filing Fees |
(c) Based on the submission under (b) of this section, the court may grant an exemption from part of the applicable filing fees if the court finds that exceptional circumstances prevent the prisoner from paying full filing fees. Imprisonment and indigency do not constitute exceptional circumstances if the prisoner has available income or resources that can be applied to the filing fee; (d) If the court orders an exemption under (c) of this section, the court shall determine the amount of the exemption and set a filing fee to be paid by the prisoner. In setting the fee, the court, at a minimum, shall require the prisoner to pay filing fees equal to 20 percent of the larger of the average monthly deposits made to the prisoner’s account described in (b)(2) of this section, or the average balance in that account, not to exceed the amount of the full filing fee required under applicable court rules.
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All |
"Exceptional circumstances prevent the prisoner from paying full filing fees" |
At defendant's request before imposition of fine or fee | Burden on defendant to show inability to pay | Administrative decision | No |
Fee is recalculated based on prisoner's resources. |
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Maine | Me. Rev. Stat. tit 17-A §1902(1) | Deferred disposition |
1. Authority of court to order deferment and impose requirements; administrative supervision fee. Following the acceptance of a plea of guilty for a crime for which a person is eligible for a deferred disposition under section 1901, the court may order sentencing deferred to a date certain or determinable and impose requirements upon the person, to be in effect during the period of deferment, considered by the court to be reasonable and appropriate to assist the person to lead a law-abiding life. The court-imposed deferment requirements must include a requirement that the person refrain from criminal conduct and may include a requirement that the person pay to the appropriate county an administrative supervision fee of not more than $50 per month, as determined by the court, for the term of the deferment. In determining the amount of the fee, the court shall take into account the financial resources of the person and the nature of the burden its payment imposes. In exchange for the deferred sentencing, the person shall abide by the court-imposed deferment requirements. Unless the court orders otherwise, the requirements are immediately in effect.
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All |
The financial resources of the person and the nature of the burden its payment imposes. |
Before imposition of fine or fee | Not provided for | Determined by judge without hearing | No | Not provided for |
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Maine | Me. Rev. Stat. tit 17-A § 1607 | Prohibition against imprisonment based on incapacity to pay fine |
If a court finds that an individual has met the burden of proving incapacity to pay a fine pursuant to section 1702, subsection 2, the court may not impose a term of imprisonment or any other sentencing alternative involving imprisonment solely for the reason that the individual does not have the present or future capacity to pay the fine.
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All |
Not provided for |
At enforcement of fine or fee | Burden on defendant to show inability to pay | Not provided for | No | Not provided for |
The Criminal Justice Debt Reform Builder is a project of the National Criminal Justice Debt Initiative of the Criminal Justice Policy Program at Harvard Law School in collaboration with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and with user experience design by metaLAB (at) Harvard.
For more information, please visit cjpp.law.harvard.edu.