Poverty Penalties and Poverty Traps

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State Statute Description/Statute Name Statutory language Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap Level of offense Mandatory
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South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 17-25-340. Incarceration
If the sheriff or his deputy return on oath that such offender refused to pay or has not any property or not sufficient whereon to levy, then a writ of
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capias ad satisfaciendum shall issue whereby he shall be committed to the common jail, until the forfeiture, costs and charges shall be satisfied. Such offender shall be entitled, however, to the privilege of insolvent debtors.
Incarceration All Yes
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South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 17-25-350. Contempt/incarceration
Failure to comply with the payment schedule shall constitute contempt of court; however, imprisonment for contempt may not exceed the amount of time of the original sentence, and where part
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of the fine has been paid the imprisonment cannot exceed the remaining pro rata portion of the sentence.
Incarceration All Yes
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South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 24-21-100 civil contempt
(A) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 24-19-120, 24-21-440, 24-21-560(B), or 24-21-670, when an individual has not fulfilled the individual's obligations for payment of financial obligations by the end of the
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individual's term of supervision, then the individual shall be placed under quarterly administrative monitoring, as defined in Section 24-21-5, by the department until such time as those financial obligations are paid in full or a consent order of judgment is filed. If the individual under administrative monitoring fails to make reasonable progress toward the payment of such financial obligations, as determined by the department, the department may petition the court to hold an individual in civil contempt for failure to pay the financial obligations. The department shall provide written notice of the petition and any scheduled contempt hearing by depositing the notice in the United States mail with postage prepaid addressed to the person at the address contained in the records of the department. The giving of notice by mail is complete ten days after the deposit of the notice. A certificate by the director of the department or the director's designee that the notice has been sent as required in this section is presumptive proof that the requirements as to notice of petition and any scheduled contempt hearing have been met even if the notice has not been received by the offender. If the court finds the individual has the ability to pay but has not made reasonable progress toward payment, the court may hold the individual in civil contempt of court and may impose a term of confinement in the local detention center until payment of the financial obligations, but in no case to exceed ninety days of confinement. Following any term of confinement, the individual shall be returned to quarterly administrative monitoring by the department. If the individual under administrative monitoring does not have the ability to pay the financial obligations and has no reasonable likelihood of being able to pay in the future, the department may submit a consent order of judgment to the court, which shall relieve the individual of any further administrative monitoring.
Incarceration All Yes
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Washington Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 10.70.010  Commitment until fine and costs are paid

When the defendant is adjudged to pay a fine and costs, the court shall order him or her to be committed to the custody of the sheriff until the fine

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and costs are paid or secured as provided by law.

Incarceration All Yes
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Washington Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 9.94A.760(1),(5),(10) Legal financial obligations

(1) Whenever a person is convicted in superior court, the court may order the payment of a legal financial obligation as part of the sentence. The court may not order an

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offender to pay costs as described in RCW 10.01.160 if the court finds that the offender at the time of sentencing is indigent as defined in RCW 10.101.010(3) (a) through (c). An offender being indigent as defined in RCW 10.101.010(3) (a) through (c) is not grounds for failing to impose restitution or the crime victim penalty assessment under RCW 7.68.035. The court must on either the judgment and sentence or on a subsequent order to pay, designate the total amount of a legal financial obligation and segregate this amount among the separate assessments made for restitution, costs, fines, and other assessments required by law. On the same order, the court is also to set a sum that the offender is required to pay on a monthly basis towards satisfying the legal financial obligation. If the court fails to set the offender monthly payment amount, the department shall set the amount if the department has active supervision of the offender, otherwise the county clerk shall set the amount.

(5) . . . For an offense committed on or after July 1, 2000, the court shall retain jurisdiction over the offender, for purposes of the offender’s compliance with payment of the legal financial obligations, until the obligation is completely satisfied, regardless of the statutory maximum for the crime. The department may only supervise the offender’s compliance with payment of the legal financial obligations during any period in which the department is authorized to supervise the offender in the community under RCW 9.94A.728, 9.94A.501, or in which the offender is confined in a state correctional institution or a correctional facility pursuant to a transfer agreement with the department, and the department shall supervise the offender’s compliance during any such period.

(10) The department or any obligee of the legal financial obligation may seek a mandatory wage assignment for the purposes of obtaining satisfaction for the legal financial obligation pursuant to RCW 9.94A.7701. Any party obtaining a wage assignment shall notify the county clerk. The county clerks shall notify the department, or the administrative office of the courts, whichever is providing the monthly billing for the offender.

(11) The requirement that the offender pay a monthly sum towards a legal financial obligation constitutes a condition or requirement of a sentence and the offender is subject to the penalties for noncompliance as provided in RCW 9.94B.040, 9.94A.737, or 9.94A.740. If the court determines that the offender is homeless or a person who is mentally ill, as defined in RCW 71.24.025, failure to pay a legal financial obligation is not willful noncompliance and shall not subject the offender to penalties.

Incarceration, Payment plan/installment plan, Wage/bank account garnishment All Yes