Criminal Justice Policy Program at Harvard Law School
50-State Criminal Justice Debt Reform Builder Bringing transparency to areas of significant legal complexity.
50-State Criminal Justice Debt Reform Builder Bringing transparency to areas of significant legal complexity.
Poverty Penalties and Poverty Traps
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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See all poverty penalty and poverty trap policy recommendations in CJPP’s Policy Guide
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- Alabama (6)
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- Georgia (10)
- Hawaii (11)
- Idaho (11)
- Illinois (11)
- Indiana (8)
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- Kentucky (12)
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- Maine (22)
- (-) Maryland (10)
- (-) Massachusetts (19)
- Michigan (32)
- Minnesota (6)
- Mississippi (14)
- Missouri (22)
- Montana (18)
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- Nevada (14)
- New Hampshire (17)
- New Jersey (20)
- New Mexico (14)
- New York (15)
- North Carolina (14)
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- Ohio (32)
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- South Carolina (36)
- (-) South Dakota (14)
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- Texas (32)
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- Wisconsin (9)
- (-) Wyoming (22)
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- Civil judgment (2)
- Collection fee/interest (2)
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- Condition or extension of supervision (11)
- Driver's license suspension/impoundment (7)
- Extension of probation/supervision (1)
- Incarceration (27)
- Increased fine (7)
- Other (1)
- Payment plan/installment plan (9)
- Property liens (6)
- Wage/bank account garnishment (4)
- Work program/jail industry program (3)
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Level of Offense
Below are the poverty penalties and poverty traps that meet your search criteria. Many include a See related provisions prompt which searches our database for laws that may pertain to your result.
65 Results
| State | Statute | Description/Statute Name | Statutory language | Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap | Level of offense | Mandatory | |
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Maryland | Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 7-503(a) | Installment | When a court imposes a fine, the court may order the defendant to pay the fine: (1) When the court imposes sentence; or (2) In specified installments at designated intervals. | Payment plan/installment plan | All | No |
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Maryland | Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 7-503(c) | Condition Probation on Payment | If a court sentences a defendant to probation, the court may make payment of a fine a condition of the sentence. | Condition or extension of supervision | All | No |
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Maryland | Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 7-504(c)(3) | Imprisonment |
After an investigation that a court considers necessary as to the reasons for the failure or inability to pay a fine, the court: May order that the individual be committed + See moreto a correctional facility;
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Incarceration | All | No |
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Maryland | Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 7-505 | Collection of Unpaid Fines and Costs | Unpaid and undischarged fines and unpaid costs may be levied, executed on, and collected in the same manner as judgments in civil cases. | Property liens | All | No |
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Maryland | Md. Code Ann., Transp. § 26-207(a) | Revocation of Commercial License |
If a person holding a commercial driver's license fails to comply with a notice to appear in court or a notice for failure to pay a fine for a traffic + See morecitation issued to the person under the laws or regulations of another state, and the other state's driver licensing authority notified the Administration of the noncompliance, on receipt of the notice of noncompliance and after giving the person 10 days' written notice, the Administration shall suspend the driving privileges of the person until receipt of a notice of compliance from the other state.
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Driver's license suspension/impoundment | All | No |
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Maryland | Md. Code Ann., Transp. § 27-103(a) | Revocation of License |
If a person fined under the Maryland Vehicle Law1 or under any federal traffic law or regulation for a violation occurring in Maryland does not pay the fine in accordance + See morewith the court's directive: (1) The court may so certify to the Administration; and (2) On such certification, after giving the person 10 days advance written notice, the Administration may suspend the driving privileges or license of the person until the fine has been paid.
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Driver's license suspension/impoundment | All | No |
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Maryland | Md. Code Ann., Crim. Law §10-119(i) | Criminal Contempt Sanctions |
if the defendant willfully fails to pay the fine imposed by the court, that willful failure may be treated as a criminal contempt of court, for which the defendant may + See morebe punished by the court as provided by law.
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Increased fine | All | No |
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Maryland | Md. Code Ann., Crim. Law §10-127(c) | Criminal Contempt Sanctions | A defendant's willful failure to pay a fine imposed under this part may be treated as a criminal contempt punishable as provided by law. | Increased fine | All | No |
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Maryland | Md. Code Ann., Crim. Law §10-133(i) | Criminal Contempt Sanctions |
if the defendant willfully fails to pay the fine imposed by the court, that willful failure may be treated as a criminal contempt of court, for which the defendant may + See morebe punished by the court as provided by law.
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Increased fine | All | No |
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Maryland | Md. Code Ann., Crim. Law §10-137(i) | Criminal Contempt Sanctions |
if the defendant willfully fails to pay the fine imposed by the court, that willful failure may be treated as a criminal contempt of court, for which the defendant may + See morebe punished by the court as provided by law.
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Increased fine | All | No |
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Massachusetts | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, § 31 | Default Warrant for Failure to Pay — Additional Fees — Payment to Court's Administrative Office. |
Whenever a court issues a default warrant solely due to the person’s failure to pay a fine, assessment, court cost, restitution, support payment or other amount as ordered by the court or required by law, the court shall specify the amount owed, including an additional assessment of $50 which assessment may be waived by the court upon a finding of good cause or upon a finding that such an assessment would cause a substantial financial hardship to the person, the person’s immediate family or the person’s dependents, with a statement that the warrant against the person may be discharged upon payment of the amount and the assessment, if any, and shall note the same in the warrant management system. The administrative office of the trial court shall accept payment of such fine, assessment, court cost, restitution, support payment or other amount as ordered by the court, along with any assessment, to be remitted by mail, telephone or other electronic means, in any form deemed acceptable by the trial court. Upon receipt of payment, the warrant against the person shall be discharged, the discharge shall be noted in the warrant management system and the individual shall receive notice of the discharge within seven days.
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Incarceration, Increased fine | All | Yes |
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Massachusetts | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, § 32 | Default Warrant for Failure to Pay — Additional Fees — Payment of Person Before Court. |
Whenever a person, brought before a court, against whom an outstanding warrant was issued, solely due to the failure of the person brought before the court to pay a fine assessment, court cost, restitution, support payment, or other amount, the court may accept payment of such amount and assess an additional fifty dollars which assessment may be waived by the court upon a finding of good cause and if the person is not being held on other process, the court may direct that the person be released from custody and shall notify the jurisdiction in which the warrant was issued of the payment and the assessment, if any. Upon notice of the release the court that issued the warrant shall recall the warrant and cause such information to be entered in the warrant management system.
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Incarceration, Increased fine | All | No |
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Massachusetts | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 279, § 1 | Suspension of execution; payment of fine; probation; revocation of suspension; exceptions |
When a person so convicted is sentenced to pay a fine and to stand committed until it is paid, the court may direct that the execution of the sentence, or any part thereof, be suspended for such time as it shall fix and in its discretion that he be placed on probation on condition that he pay the fine within such time . . . If during or at the end of said period the probation officer shall report that the fine is in whole or in part unpaid, and in his opinion the person is unwilling or unable to pay it, the court may either extend said period, place the case on file or revoke the suspension of the execution of the sentence. When such suspension is revoked, in a case where the fine has been paid in part, the defendant may be committed for default in payment of the balance.
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Incarceration | All | No |
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Massachusetts | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 279, § 1A | Suspended Sentences — Fines and Imprisonment. |
When a person convicted before a court is sentenced to fine and imprisonment, the court may direct that the execution of the sentence, or any part thereof, be suspended, and that he be placed on probation for such time and on such terms and conditions as it shall fix. The court may direct, as one of such terms and conditions, that payment of the fine may be made to the probation officer in one payment, or in part payments, during the period of probation or any extension thereof, and when such fine shall have been fully paid the order of commitment as to the fine shall be void, but the order of commitment as to imprisonment shall not be affected by such payment . . . If during or at the end of said period the probation officer shall report that the fine is in whole or in part unpaid, and in his opinion the person is unwilling or unable to pay it, the court may either extend said period, place the case on file or revoke the suspension of the execution of the sentence. When such suspension is revoked, in a case where the fine has been paid in part, the defendant may be committed for default in payment of the balance, and may also be committed for the term of imprisonment fixed in the original sentence.
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Incarceration | All | No |
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Massachusetts | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 279, § 7 | Sentence — Conviction of Crime Punishable by Fine; Imprisonment for Non-Payment. |
Whoever is convicted of a crime punishable by a fine, and is liable to imprisonment in the jail for its non-payment, may be sentenced to such imprisonment in the house of correction, or to confinement at hard labor either in the jail or house of correction.
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Incarceration | All | No |
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Massachusetts | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 279, § 9 | Sentence — Second Sentence for Non-Payment of Fine. |
Except as provided in section one hundred and forty-six of chapter one hundred and twenty-seven, if a convict is sentenced to pay a fine in more than one case and has been committed to a jail, house of correction or other prison or other correctional institution for refusing to pay such fine, the subsequent sentence shall take effect upon the expiration of the imprisonment under the former sentence.
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Incarceration | All | Yes |
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Massachusetts | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 279, § 10 | Sentence — Conditional. |
If a person has been convicted of a crime punishable, at the discretion of the court, by fine or imprisonment in the jail or house of correction or by fine or imprisonment in the state prison, the court may impose upon him a conditional sentence, and order him to pay a fine within a limited time which shall be expressed in the sentence, and in default thereof to suffer such imprisonment as is provided by law. He shall be forthwith committed to the custody of an officer in court or to the jail, to be detained until the sentence is complied with; and if he does not within the time limited pay the fine imposed, the sheriff shall cause the other part of the sentence to be executed forthwith.
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Incarceration | All | No |
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Massachusetts | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 266, § 111B | Fraudulent Motor Vehicle Insurance Claims; Penalties; Reimbursement of Insurer. |
If a defendant who is required to make restitution defaults in any payment of restitution or installment thereof, the court shall hold him in contempt unless said defendant has made a good faith effort to pay such restitution.
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Incarceration | All | Yes |
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Massachusetts | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 270, § 16 | Disposal of Refuse on Highways, Public Land, Private Property, or in Coastal or Inland Waters. |
If a motor vehicle is used in committing such an offense where the offense involves the unlawful disposal of more than seven cubic feet of trash, bottles or cans, refuse, rubbish, garbage, debris scrap, waste or any other materials and the motor vehicle is observed while the offense is in progress by an officer authorized to enforce this section, the officer may seize the vehicle and remove and store it or otherwise immobilize it by a mechanical device until (1) payment is made to the enforcing authority of a fine set by such enforcing authority up to the maximum fine which may be imposed under this section, (2) the illegally disposed of material is removed and legally disposed of, and (3) payment is made to the enforcing authority of its reasonable towing and storage charges, if any, for the seized vehicle. If, after payment of the above fine and towing and storage charges, the use of the seized vehicle is necessary to dispose of the material, the enforcing authority shall release the seized vehicle upon the posting of security sufficient to pay for the cost of legal disposal of the material...If a motor vehicle is used in committing such an offense, a conviction under this section shall forthwith be reported by the court to the registrar of motor vehicles, and the registrar may suspend the license of the operator of such vehicle for not more than thirty days, and if it appears from the records of the registrar of motor vehicles that the person so convicted is the owner of the motor vehicle so used, the registrar may suspend the certificate of registration of said vehicle for thirty days.
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Property liens | Misdemeanor | No |
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Massachusetts | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 90, § 24D | Drivers Convicted of Operating Motor Vehicle Under the Influence of Intoxicating Liquors or Controlled Substances. |
An additional fee of two hundred and fifty dollars shall be paid to the chief probation officer of each court by each person placed in a program of driver alcohol or controlled substance abuse education pursuant to this section and all such fees shall be deposited with the state treasurer, subject to appropriation, for the support of programs operated by the secretary of public safety, the alcohol beverage control commission, and the department of public health for the investigation, enforcement, treatment and rehabilitation of those persons convicted of or charged with driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs . . . Failure to pay the fees required under this section shall, unless excused, constitute sufficient basis for a finding by the court at a hearing held pursuant to section twenty-four E that the person has failed to satisfactorily comply with the program.
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Incarceration | Traffic | No |
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.