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.
Every law can be saved to the Reform Builder
See all poverty penalty and poverty trap policy recommendations in CJPP’s Policy Guide
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.
21 Results
State | Statute | Description/Statute Name | Statutory language | Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap | Level of offense | Mandatory | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Add to Dashboard
|
Mississippi | Miss. Code Ann. § 63-1-53 (1) | Driver's license suspension |
Upon failure of any person to respond timely and properly to a summons or citation charging such person with any violation of this title, or upon failure of any person + See moreto pay timely any fine, fee or assessment levied as a result of any violation of this title, the clerk of the court shall give written notice to such person by United States first-class mail at his last known address advising such person that, if within ten (10) days after such notice is deposited in the mail, the person has not properly responded to the summons or citation or has not paid the entire amount of all fines, fees and assessments levied, then the court will give notice thereof to the Commissioner of Public Safety and the commissioner may suspend the driver's license of such person.
|
Driver's license suspension/impoundment | Traffic | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Mississippi | Miss. Code Ann. § 99-37-5(1) | Payment and orders |
When a defendant is sentenced to pay a fine or costs or ordered to make restitution, the court may order payment to be made forthwith or within a specified period + See moreof time or in specified installments. If a defendant is sentenced to a term of imprisonment, an order of payment of a fine, costs or restitution shall not be enforceable during the period of imprisonment unless the court expressly finds that the defendant has assets to pay all or part of the amounts ordered at the time of sentencing.
|
Payment plan/installment plan | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Mississippi | Miss. Code Ann. § 99-37-5(2) | Payment and orders |
(2) When a defendant sentenced to pay a fine or costs or ordered to make restitution is also placed on probation or imposition or execution of sentence is suspended, the + See morecourt may make payment of the fine or costs or the making of restitution a condition of probation or suspension of sentence. Such offenders shall make restitution payments directly to the victim. As an alternative to a contempt proceeding under Sections 99-37-7 through 99-37-13, the intentional refusal to obey the restitution order or a failure by a defendant to make a good faith effort to make such restitution may be considered a violation of the defendant's probation and may be cause for revocation of his probation or suspension of sentence.
|
Incarceration | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Mississippi | Miss. Code Ann. § 99-37-5(2) | Payment and orders |
(2) When a defendant sentenced to pay a fine or costs or ordered to make restitution is also placed on probation or imposition or execution of sentence is suspended, the + See morecourt may make payment of the fine or costs or the making of restitution a condition of probation or suspension of sentence. Such offenders shall make restitution payments directly to the victim. As an alternative to a contempt proceeding under Sections 99-37-7 through 99-37-13, the intentional refusal to obey the restitution order or a failure by a defendant to make a good faith effort to make such restitution may be considered a violation of the defendant's probation and may be cause for revocation of his probation or suspension of sentence.
|
Condition or extension of supervision | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Mississippi | Miss. Code Ann. § 99-37-7(2) | Contempt for default |
(2) Unless the defendant shows that his default was not attributable to an intentional refusal to obey the order of the court or to a failure on his part to + See moremake a good faith effort to make the payment, the court may find that his default constitutes contempt and may order him committed until the fine or the restitution, or a specified part thereof, is paid.
|
Incarceration | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Mississippi | Miss. Code. Ann. § 63-1-51 | Grounds for revocation or suspension |
It shall be the duty of the court clerk, upon conviction of any person holding a license issued pursuant to this article where the penalty for a traffic violation is + See moreas much as Ten Dollars ($10.00), to mail a copy of abstract of the court record or provide an electronically or computer generated copy of abstract of the court record immediately to the commissioner at Jackson, Mississippi, showing the date of conviction, penalty, etc., so that a record of same may be made by the Department of Public Safety. The commissioner shall forthwith revoke the license of any person for a period of one (1) year upon receiving a duly certified record of each person's convictions of any of the following offenses when such conviction has become final: . . . (f) Contempt for failure to pay a fine or fee or to respond to a summons or citation pursuant to a charge of a violation of this title.
|
Driver's license suspension/impoundment | All | Yes |
Add to Dashboard
|
Mississippi | Miss. Code. Ann. § 47-1-3 | Working out fine, costs, sentence |
It is the imperative duty of the board of supervisors in each county in this state to require each convict sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail and the payment + See moreof a fine and costs, or to imprisonment and payment of costs, or to payment of fine and costs, to work out the sentence on the county convict farm or on the public roads or other public works of the county, or in a contiguous county, as herein provided. But any convict who is sentenced to the payment of a fine and costs and who pays such fine and costs shall thereby be relieved from working out such fine and costs, but the payment in full of such fine and costs shall not relieve such convict from working out the full time of his imprisonment as adjudged in his sentence.
|
Work program/jail industry program | All | Yes |
Add to Dashboard
|
Oklahoma | Okla. Stat. tit. 10A, § 1-4-701B | Reimbursements and costs by parents able to pay |
The court may order the terms and conditions of the payment of costs and expenses described in subsection A of this section. When any parent is financially able but has + See morewillfully failed to pay the costs and reimbursements as ordered by the court pursuant to this section, the parent may be held in indirect contempt of court and, upon conviction, shall be punished pursuant to Section 566 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
|
Increased fine | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Oklahoma | Okla. Stat. tit. 22, § 979a | Payment of jail costs by inmate |
The sheriff, municipality or other public entity responsible for the operation of the jail may collect costs of incarceration ordered by the court from the jail account of the inmate. + See moreIf the funds collected from the jail account of the inmate are insufficient to satisfy the actual incarceration costs ordered by the court, the sheriff, municipality or other public entity responsible for the operation of the jail is authorized to collect the remaining balance of the incarceration costs by civil action.
|
Wage/bank account garnishment | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Oklahoma | 22 Okl.St.Ann. § 456A | Bench warrant, fee for issuance of |
For the issuance of each bench warrant for a defendant's failure to pay court costs, fines, fees, or assessments in felony, misdemeanor, or traffic cases, the court clerk shall charge + See moreand collect a fee of Five Dollars ($5.00). The fee shall be included in the execution bond amount on the face of the bench warrant which is issued for the defendant's failure to pay and shall be in addition to the delinquent amount owed by the defendant. This fee shall be deposited in the court clerk's revolving fund pursuant to the provisions of Section 220 of Title 19 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
|
Collection fee/interest | All | Yes |
Add to Dashboard
|
Oklahoma | 22 Okl.St.Ann. § 966A | Bench warrant, fee for issuance of |
For the issuance of each bench warrant for a defendant's failure to pay court costs, fines, fees, or assessments in felony, misdemeanor, or traffic cases, the court clerk shall charge + See moreand collect a fee of Five Dollars ($5.00). The fee shall be included in the execution bond amount on the face of the bench warrant which is issued for the defendant's failure to pay and shall be in addition to the delinquent amount owed by the defendant. This fee shall be deposited in the court clerk's revolving fund pursuant to the provisions of Section 220 of Title 19 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
|
Collection fee/interest | All | Yes |
Add to Dashboard
|
Oklahoma | 22 Okl.St.Ann. § 983A | Imprisonment or recommendation of suspension of driving privileges for failure to pay fines, costs, fees, or assessments--Hearing--Installments |
Any defendant found guilty of an offense in any court of this state may be imprisoned for nonpayment of the fine, cost, fee, or assessment when the trial court finds + See moreafter notice and hearing that the defendant is financially able but refuses or neglects to pay the fine, cost, fee, or assessment. A sentence to pay a fine, cost, fee, or assessment may be converted into a jail sentence only after a hearing and a judicial determination, memorialized of record, that the defendant is able to satisfy the fine, cost, fee, or assessment by payment, but refuses or neglects so to do.
|
Incarceration | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Oklahoma | 22 Okl.St.Ann. § 983B | Imprisonment or recommendation of suspension of driving privileges for failure to pay fines, costs, fees, or assessments--Hearing--Installments |
After a judicial determination that the defendant is able to pay the fine, cost, fee, or assessment in installments, the court may order the fine, cost, fee, or assessment to + See morebe paid in installments and shall set the amount and date for each installment.
|
Payment plan/installment plan | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Oklahoma | 22 Okl.St.Ann. § 983C | Imprisonment or recommendation of suspension of driving privileges for failure to pay fines, costs, fees, or assessments--Hearing--Installments |
In addition, the district court or municipal court, within one hundred twenty (120) days from the date upon which the person was originally ordered to make payment, may send notice + See moreof nonpayment of any court ordered fine and costs for a moving traffic violation to the Department of Public Safety with a recommendation of suspension of driving privileges of the defendant until the total amount of any fine and costs has been paid. Upon receipt of payment of the total amount of the fine and costs for the moving traffic violation, the court shall send notice thereof to the Department, if a nonpayment notice was sent as provided for in this subsection. Notices sent to the Department shall be on forms or by a method approved by the Department.
|
Driver's license suspension/impoundment | Traffic | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Oklahoma | 11 Okl.St.Ann. § 14-111 | Enforcement and penalties for violation of municipal ordinances |
The governing body may provide that any person fined for violation of a municipal ordinance who is financially able but refuses or neglects to pay the fine or costs may + See morebe compelled to satisfy the amount owed by working on the streets, alleys, avenues, areas, and public grounds of the municipality, subject to the direction of the street commissioner or other proper officer, at a rate per day as the governing body may prescribe by ordinance, but not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) per day for useful labor, until the fine or costs are satisfied.
|
Work program/jail industry program | Misdemeanor | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Oklahoma | 11 Okl.St.Ann. § 28-124 | Imprisonment for nonpayment of fine and costs--Persons unable to pay |
Any person who shall be convicted in the municipal criminal court of record of a violation of any ordinance of the city and sentenced to pay a fine and costs, + See morewho is financially able but refuses or neglects to pay such fine and costs, shall be imprisoned in the jail, farm or workhouse of the city, in the discretion of the court, for one (1) day for each Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) of the fine and cost assessed or one (1) day for each Fifty Dollars ($50.00) of the fine and cost assessed if the person performs useful labor. If the defendant is without means to pay the fine or costs, the municipal judge may direct the total amount due to be entered upon the court minutes and to be certified to the district court in the county where the situs of the municipal government is located where it shall be entered upon the district court judgment docket and shall have the full force and effect of a district court judgment. Thereupon, the same remedies shall be available for the enforcement of the judgment as are available to any other judgment creditor.
|
Work program/jail industry program | Misdemeanor | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Oklahoma | Okla. Stat. tit. 11, § 22-138 | Municipal collection agency contracts |
A governing body of a municipality that enters into a contract with a collection agency pursuant to this section may authorize the addition of a collection fee in an amount + See morenot to exceed thirty-five percent (35%) on each item described in subsection A of this section that has been referred by the municipality to the collection agency for collection. If a municipality enters into such contract with a collection agency and authorizes the collection fee, the court shall order defendants to reimburse the fee arising pursuant to paragraph 2 of subsection A of this section and such court-ordered fee may be collected as provided by law for the collection of any other civil debt or criminal action.
|
Collection fee/interest | All | Yes |
Add to Dashboard
|
Oklahoma | Okla. Stat. tit. 57, § 58.3 | Sentence and fine or cost credits for prisoner labor |
Prisoners employed as provided herein shall be given a credit of two (2) days on a jail sentence for each day worked, and a credit of Fifty Dollars ($50.00) per + See moreday upon the payment of a fine or court cost, if sentenced for nonpayment of a fine or court cost. The sheriff shall be authorized to order the credit be given to the prisoner on the records of the court where the conviction of the prisoner is filed.
|
Work program/jail industry program | All | Yes |
Add to Dashboard
|
Oklahoma | Okla. Stat. tit. 11, § 27-122 | Enforcement of payment of fines or costs by imprisonment--Persons unable to pay |
A. If a defendant who is financially able refuses or neglects to pay a fine or costs or both, payment may be enforced:1. By imprisonment until the same shall be + See moresatisfied at the rate of Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) per day; or
2. In the same manner as is prescribed in subsection B of this section for a defendant who is without means to make such payment.
B. If the defendant is without means to pay the fine or costs, the municipal judge may direct the total amount due to be entered upon the court minutes and to be certified to the district court in the county where the situs of the municipal government is located, where it shall be entered upon the district court judgment docket and shall have the full force and effect of a district court judgment. The same remedies shall be available for the enforcement of the judgment as are available to any other judgment creditor.
|
Incarceration | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Oklahoma | Okla. Stat. tit. 11, § 28-123 | Execution of sentence--Modification, reduction or suspension--Probation--Deferred sentence |
. All sentences of imprisonment shall be executed by the chief of police of the city, and any person convicted of a violation of any ordinance of the city and + See moresentenced to imprisonment shall be confined in the jail, farm or workhouse, of the city, in the discretion of the court, for the time specified in the sentence. All persons who shall be convicted in the court of violation of any ordinance of the city and sentenced to pay a fine and costs, who shall refuse to pay such fine or costs, shall be imprisoned in the jail of the city for one (1) day for each Two Dollars ($2.00) of the fine and costs assessed.
|
Incarceration | All | 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.