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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Kentucky Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 534.020(3)(b),(4) Methods of imposing fines; installment payment plan; determination of reason for defendant's default; show cause hearing; certain installment payments not to be reported as liquidated debt

(b) If the defendant fails to appear at the show cause hearing, the court may issue a warrant for the defendant's arrest. Any warrant for arrest issued for nonpayment of

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court costs, fees, or fines pursuant to this subsection shall include a notice to the jailer that the defendant shall be released upon payment or completion of daily credit pursuant to KRS 534.070.

(4) When a defendant is sentenced to pay court costs, fees, or fines, an alternative sentence of imprisonment that is to be served in the event the court costs, fees, or fines are not paid shall not be imposed at the same time. The response of a court to nonpayment shall be determined only after:

(a) The court costs, fees, or fines have not been paid; and

(b) 1. The show cause hearing has been held pursuant to subsections (2)(a) and (3)(a) of this section; or 2. The defendant has failed to appear at the show cause hearing as outlined in subsection (3)(b) of this section.

Other All No
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Kentucky Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 534.070(1) Incarceration for failure to pay fine or court costs or failure to appear in court; daily credit against fine or court costs for time served; application of partial payment

 

(1) A defendant who has been sentenced to jail for failure to pay court costs, fees, or fines or for failure to appear in court on a date set for

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the sole purpose of addressing nonpayment of court costs, fees, or fines shall receive credit against the court costs, fees, or fines owed for each day the defendant spends in jail . . . 

Incarceration All No
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Kentucky Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 431.100
Withholding of money payable by Commonwealth to defendant in satisfaction of money judgment in criminal proceeding; fines and forfeitures go to Commonwealth; disposition of fines from offenses relating to alcohol
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and to criminal littering; monetary . . .

When a money judgment is entered against a defendant in a criminal proceeding and each sum, or any part thereof, remains unpaid, there shall be withheld from any disbursement, payment, benefit,

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compensation, salary, or other transfer of money from the Commonwealth of Kentucky to such defendant an amount equal to the unpaid amount of the judgment. Under no circumstances shall the general fund be used to reimburse court costs or pay for judgment.

Wage/bank account garnishment All Yes
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Kentucky Ky. RCr 2.05 Bench Warrants

Whenever a witness or defendant fails to appear in court as duly required, the presiding judge may issue a warrant for his or her arrest without the necessity of a

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supporting affidavit or complaint.

Other All No
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Kentucky Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 534.020(1) Methods of imposing fines; installment payment plan; determination of reason for defendant's default; show cause hearing; certain installment payments not to be reported as liquidated debt

When a defendant is sentenced to pay a fine, the court may provide for payment to be made within a specified period of time or in specified installments. If no

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such provision is made a part of the sentence, then the fine shall be payable forthwith.

Payment plan/installment plan All No
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Kentucky Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 532.033(8) Order of restitution

When a judge orders restitution, the judge shall:

(8) Not release the defendant from probation supervision until restitution has been paid in full and all other aspects of the probation order

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have been successfully completed.

Condition or extension of supervision All Yes
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Kentucky Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 24A.175(4) Court cost enforcement

(4) If the court finds that the defendant does not meet the standard articulated in subsection (3) of this section and that the defendant is nonetheless unable to pay the

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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.

Payment plan/installment plan All No
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Kentucky Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 441.265(3),(5)-(7) Required reimbursement by prisoner of costs of confinement; local policy of fee and expense rates; billing and collection methods

(3) The jailer or his designee may bill and attempt to collect any amount owed which remains unpaid. The governing body of the county may, upon the advice of the

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jailer, contract with one (1) or more public agencies or private vendors to perform this billing and collection. Within twelve (12) months after the date of the prisoner's release from confinement, the county attorney, jailer, or the jailer's designee, may file a civil action to seek reimbursement from that prisoner for any amount owed which remains unpaid . . .

(6) Payment of any required fees may be automatically deducted from the prisoner's property or canteen account. If the prisoner has no funds in his account, a deduction may be made creating a negative balance. If funds become available or if the prisoner reenters the jail at a later date, the fees may be deducted from the prisoner's property or canteen account.

(7) Prior to the prisoner's release, the jailer or his designee may work with the confined prisoner to create a reimbursement plan to be implemented upon the prisoner's release. At the end of the prisoner's incarceration, the prisoner shall be presented with a billing statement produced by the jailer or designee. After the prisoner's release, the jailer or his designee may, after negotiation with the prisoner, release the prisoner from all or part of the prisoner's repayment obligation if the jailer believes that the prisoner will be unable to pay the full amount due.

Civil judgment All No
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Kentucky Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 532.162(2) Order as lien upon earnings; circuit clerk to disburse; fee

(2) The circuit clerk's office shall disburse all collected reimbursement, restitution, and fees to the victim, the Kentucky Claims Commission, or the local government, whichever is appropriate. The clerk shall

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be entitled to collect a fee of two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) from each account for which a disbursement is made at the time of disbursement. In the event of challenge to a garnishment, the appropriate clerk's office shall not disburse those sums associated with the challenged garnishment until determination by the sentencing court regarding the propriety of the garnishment.

Increased fine All No
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Kentucky Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 532.160(1) Criminal garnishment

(1) If a convicted person is unable to pay all court costs, fees, fines, and other monetary penalties at the time of sentencing, then the sentencing court may, consistent with

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KRS 23A.205, 24A.175, 534.020, and KRS 534.060, issue a criminal garnishment order for all fines under KRS Chapter 534 or KRS 49.480 and for court costs, restitution, and reimbursement charges in this chapter.

Wage/bank account garnishment All No
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Kentucky Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 532.168 Show cause hearing for failure to comply with criminal garnishment order

If a garnishee fails to comply with the terms of the order of criminal garnishment within thirty (30) days after its issuance, the attorney for the Commonwealth may move the

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court to order the garnishee to show cause why he should not be held in contempt. If the court finds that the failure was willful or grossly negligent, the court shall find the garnishee in contempt and shall award reasonable attorney's fees and costs, in addition to any contempt sanction it imposes.

Incarceration All No
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Kentucky Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 532.356(1)(a) Reimbursement and restitution as additional sanctions; ineligibility to operate motor vehicle upon conviction of certain theft, fraud, and organized crime offenses

(1) Upon a person's conviction and sentencing for any nonstatus juvenile offense, moving traffic violation, criminal violation, misdemeanor, or Class D felony offense, and, for the purposes of paragraph (b)

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of this subsection, any Class C felony offense listed in subsection (3) of this section, the court shall impose the following sanctions in addition to any imprisonment, fine, court cost, or community service:
(a) Reimbursement to the state or local government for the person's incarceration, determined by the per person, per diem, expenses of each prisoner incarcerated by the respective local government, times the number of days he has spent or shall spend in confinement, plus any medical services received by the prisoner, less copayments paid by the prisoner. The convicted person's ability to pay all or part of the reimbursement shall be considered by the sentencing court in imposing the sanction

Increased fine All No
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Rhode Island R.I. Gen. Laws. Ann. § 12-19-31 Commitment for nonpayment of fines and costs

Whenever any person shall be committed for nonpayment of fines and costs, the sheriffs of the several counties and their deputies, and the town sergeants and town constables of any

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town in the several counties, upon due warrant from the court before whom the person has been convicted, may lawfully remove and commit the persons to the adult correctional institutions and they shall be allowed any fees that are now provided by law in similar cases; provided, that in the counties of Newport and Washington, any person before removal from the county of Newport or the county of Washington, in which sentence is entered, may pay the fine and costs into the court or into the office of the clerk of the court in which sentence is imposed and upon payment shall be discharged.

Incarceration All No
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Rhode Island R.I. Gen. Laws. Ann. § 12-21-9 Commitment for failure to obey judgment or sentence

If any person against whom sentence is passed or judgment rendered, under any penal statute, shall refuse or neglect to perform the sentence or to pay the judgment, he or

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she shall, by order of the court passing the sentence or by the officer charged with the execution issued on the judgment, be committed to the adult correctional institutions, and be imprisoned there until the sentence is performed or he or she is discharged by due course of law.

Incarceration All No
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Rhode Island R.I. Gen. Laws. Ann. § 12-21-1(1) Methods of recovering fines and forfeitures

Unless otherwise specially provided:

(1)  All fines of five hundred dollars ($ 500) and under shall be recovered by complaint and summons;

(2)  All fines of upwards of five hundred dollars ($ 500), by

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indictment or information;

(3)  All penalties and pecuniary forfeitures, by action of debt; and

(4)  All forfeitures of personal property, by complaint and warrant or by information.

Civil judgment, Other All Yes
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Rhode Island R.I. Gen. Laws. Ann. § 12-21-33 Suspension of operators' license for failure to pay costs, fines, fees, or assessments

A judge of the superior or district court or the traffic tribunal may order the suspension of a person's license issued pursuant to chapter 10 of title 31 if the

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person fails to pay court ordered costs, fines, fees, restitution or assessments within the time period provided for in an order of the court. The judge may order the suspension to be effective until the person complies with the court order.

Driver's license suspension/impoundment All Yes
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Rhode Island R.I. Gen. Laws. Ann. § 12-25-26 Recovery of victim compensation from offender

Whenever any person is convicted of an offense and compensation is awarded under this chapter or under the 1972 Act for a personal injury or death resulting from the act

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constituting the offense, the state of Rhode Island shall institute an action against that person for the recovery of the whole or any specified part of the compensation in the superior court of the state of Rhode Island in any county, or in the state or federal court of any other state or district in which that person resides or is found, or make a finding in writing, of the reasons why it is impractical or impossible to institute that action. The office shall pursue the recovery whenever possible in order to provide additional funds for the violent crimes indemnity account. The administrator shall develop rules and regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 35 of title 42, to identify those so convicted, determine their ability to compensate the fund, and file whatever action is appropriate to recoup those funds.

Civil judgment, Other All Yes
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Rhode Island R.I. Gen. Laws. Ann. § 12-19-8.1 Conditions of probation

(a) The following shall constitute basic conditions of probation applicable to all defendants upon whom a period of probation has been imposed: (8) Pay restitution, court costs, and fines, if

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assessed, in one or several sums, based on the defendant's ability to pay; and

Condition or extension of supervision All No
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Rhode Island R.I. Gen. Laws. Ann. § 12-25-26 Recovery from offender

(a) Whenever any person is convicted of an offense and compensation is awarded under this chapter or under the 1972 Act for a personal injury or death resulting from the

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act constituting the offense, the state of Rhode Island shall institute an action against that person for the recovery of the whole or any specified part of the compensation in the superior court of the state of Rhode Island in any county, or in the state or federal court of any other state or district in which that person resides or is found, or make a finding in writing, of the reasons why it is impractical or impossible to institute that action. The office shall pursue the recovery whenever possible in order to provide additional funds for the violent crimes indemnity account. The administrator shall develop rules and regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 35 of title 42, to identify those so convicted, determine their ability to compensate the fund, and file whatever action is appropriate to recoup those funds.

Civil judgment All No
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South Dakota S.D. Codified Laws § 32-35-60 Installment payments

A judgment debtor upon due notice to the judgment creditor may apply to the court in which such judgment was rendered for the privilege of paying such judgment in installments

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and the court, in its discretion and without prejudice to any other legal remedies which the judgment creditor may have, may so order and fix the amounts and times of payment of the installments.

Payment plan/installment plan All No