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Poverty Penalties and Poverty Traps

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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.

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	State	Statute	Description/Statute Name	Statutory language	Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap	Level of offense	Mandatory
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Nebraska	Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2206(1)	Fine and costs; commitment until paid; installments; deduction from bond; suspension or revocation of motor vehicle operator’s license.	(1)(a) In all cases in which courts or magistrates have now or may hereafter have the power to punish offenses, either in whole or in part, by requiring the offender + See more to pay fines or costs, or both, such courts or magistrates may make it a part of the sentence that the party stand committed and be imprisoned in the jail of the proper county until the fines or costs are paid or secured to be paid or the offender is otherwise discharged according to law if the court or magistrate determines that the offender has the financial ability to pay such fines or costs.	Incarceration	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Nebraska	Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2206(2)	Fine and costs; commitment until paid; installments; deduction from bond; suspension or revocation of motor vehicle operator’s license	(2) If the court or magistrate determines, pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, that an offender is financially unable to pay such fines or costs in one lump sum but + See more is financially capable of paying in installments, the court or magistrate shall make arrangements suitable to the court or magistrate and to the offender by which the offender may pay in installments. The court or magistrate shall enter an order specifying the terms of such arrangements and the dates on which payments are to be made. When the judgment of conviction provides for the suspension or revocation of a motor vehicle operator’s license and the court authorizes the payment of fines or costs by installments, the revocation or suspension shall be effective as of the date of judgment.	Payment plan/installment plan	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Nebraska	Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2206(3)	Alternative to lump sum/installment payments	As an alternative to a lump-sum payment or as an alternative or in conjunction with installment payments, the court or magistrate may deduct fines or costs from a bond posted + See more by the offender to the extent that such bond is not otherwise encumbered by a valid lien, levy, execution, or assignment to counsel of record or the person who posted the bond.	Other	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Nebraska	Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2206.01	Fine and costs; payment of installments; violation; penalty	Installments provided for in section 29-2206 shall be paid pursuant to the order entered by the court or magistrate. Any person who fails to comply with the terms of such order shall + See more be liable for punishment for contempt, unless such person has the leave of the court or magistrate in regard to such noncompliance or such person requests a hearing pursuant to section 29-2412 and establishes at such hearing that he or she is financially unable to pay.	Incarceration, Increased fine	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Nebraska	Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2412 (3)	Fine and costs; nonpayment; commutation upon confinement; credit; amount	(1) (a) Any person arrested and brought into custody on a warrant for failure to pay fines or costs, for failure to appear before a court or magistrate on the due date + See more of such fines or costs, or for failure to comply with the terms of an order pursuant to sections 29-2206 and 29-2206.01, shall be entitled to a hearing on the first regularly scheduled court date following the date of arrest. (b) If the court or magistrate determines that the person is financially able to pay the fines or costs and the person refuses to pay, the court or magistrate may: (i) Order the person to be confined in the jail of the proper county until the fines or costs are paid or secured to be paid or the person is otherwise discharged pursuant to subsection (4) of this section; or (ii) Enter an order pursuant to subdivision (1)(d) of this section discharging the person of such fines or costs and order the person to complete community service for a specified number of hours pursuant to sections 29-2277 to 29-2279; (3) Nothing in this section shall authorize any person to be discharged from imprisonment before the expiration of the time for which he or she may be sentenced to be imprisoned as part of his or her punishment (4) (a) Any person held in custody for nonpayment of fines or costs or for default on an installment shall be entitled to a credit on the fines, costs, or installment of one hundred fifty dollars for each day so held. (b) In no case shall a person held in custody for nonpayment of fines or costs be held in such custody for more days than the maximum number to which he or she could have been sentenced if the penalty set by law includes the possibility of confinement.	Community service, Incarceration	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Nebraska	Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2404	Misdemeanor cases; fines and costs; judgment; levy; commitment	In all cases of misdemeanor in which courts or magistrates shall have power to fine any offender, and shall render judgment for such fine, it shall be lawful to issue + See more executions for the same, with the costs taxed against the offender, to be levied on the goods and chattels of any such offender, and, for want of the same, upon the body of the offender, who shall, following a determination that the offender has the financial ability to pay such fine pursuant to section 29-2412, be committed to the jail of the proper county until the fine and costs be paid, or secured to be paid, or the offender be otherwise discharged according to law.	Collection fee/interest, Incarceration	Misdemeanor	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Nebraska	(2)Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-1011	Violations; liability for expenses	Even if reimbursement for expenses is not ordered under subsection (1) of this section, the defendant shall be liable for all unreimbursed expenses incurred by a public or private agency + See more in conjunction with the care, impoundment, seizure, or disposal of an animal. The expenses shall be a lien upon the animal.	Property liens	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Nebraska	Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2262(2)(l)-(m),(s)-(t)	Probation; conditions	(2) The court may, as a condition of a sentence of probation, require the offender: (l) To pay a fine in one or more payments as ordered; (m) To pay + See more for tests to determine the presence of drugs or alcohol, psychological evaluations, offender assessment screens, and rehabilitative services required in the identification, evaluation, and treatment of offenders if such offender has the financial ability to pay for such services; (s) To make restitution as described in sections 29-2280 and 29-2281; or (t) To pay for all costs imposed by the court, including court costs and the fees imposed pursuant to section 29-2262.06.	Condition or extension of supervision	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Nebraska	Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2262.06(1),(5)	Fees; waiver; when; failure to pay; effect	(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whenever a district court or county court sentences an adult offender to probation, the court shall require the probationer to pay a + See more one-time administrative enrollment fee and thereafter a monthly probation programming fee. (5) If a probationer defaults in the payment of monthly probation programming fees or any installment thereof, the court may revoke his or her probation for nonpayment, except that probation shall not be revoked nor shall the offender be imprisoned for such nonpayment if the probationer is financially unable to make the payment, if he or she so states to the court in writing under oath, and if the court so finds after a hearing.	Condition or extension of supervision	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Tennessee	Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-50-507	Community Service Work	By a majority vote of the applicable local legislative body, any county or city may, by resolution or ordinance, establish a program that allows any person who is indigent and + See more who has been convicted of driving while the person's license is cancelled, suspended, or revoked in violation of § 55-50-504(a) to complete community service work in lieu of paying the fines and other costs imposed for the conviction. The community service program shall be administered and monitored by the appropriate entity that administers court-ordered community service within the applicable jurisdiction.	Community service	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Tennessee	Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-2-129(b)(4)	Compensation and salaries; work release	(4) If the prisoner is gainfully self-employed, the prisoner shall pay for such board, in default of which the prisoner's privilege under §§ 41-2-127 -- 41-2-132 shall be automatically forfeited.	Other	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Tennessee	Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-2-128(5)	Prisoners who may apply for release -- Procedure.	(5) (A) The judge shall, at the time of sentencing, cause the sentencing order to reflect the defendant's cost of incarceration and treatment and shall affix to the order, + See more taking into consideration the defendant's ability to pay, the time and manner in which the costs are to be paid. The court shall enter the necessary orders requiring that the costs of incarceration and treatment be paid or secured, including, but not limited to, orders of probation that include, as a condition thereof, the payment of costs covered by this subdivision (c)(5).	Condition or extension of supervision	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Tennessee	Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-24-104(b)	Revocation of Driver's License	Whenever a court orders a defendant to pay a fine, imposed as a result of a traffic violation, in installment payments, the court shall revoke the defendant's privilege to operate + See more a motor vehicle in this state upon the failure of the defendant to comply with the order of the court. If the defendant's privilege to operate a motor vehicle has been revoked for the failure to comply with the court order, the privilege shall remain so revoked until the total amount of the fine imposed is paid.	Driver's license suspension/impoundment	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Tennessee	Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-24-104(a)	Imprisonment	If the defendant fails to pay the fine as directed, or is unable to pay the fine and so represents upon application to the court, the court, after inquiring into + See more and making further investigation, if any, which it may deem necessary with regard to the defendant's financial and family situation and the reasons for nonpayment of the fine, including whether the nonpayment was contumacious or was due to indigency, may enter any order that it could have entered under § 40-24-101, or may reduce the fine to an amount that the defendant is able to pay, or may direct that the defendant be imprisoned until the fine, or any portion of it, remaining unpaid or remaining undischarged after a pro rata credit for any time that may already have been served in lieu of payments, is paid. The court shall determine and specify, in the light of defendant's situation and means and of defendant's conduct with regard to the nonpayment of the fine, the period of any imprisonment in default of payment of the fine within the limits of the penalties for a Class C misdemeanor.	Incarceration	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Tennessee	Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-24-101(a)	Installments	(a) When any court of this state, including municipal courts for violation of municipal ordinances, imposes a fine upon an individual, the court may direct as follows: (1) That the + See more defendant pay the entire amount at the time sentence is pronounced; (2) That the defendant pay the entire amount at some later date; (3) That the defendant pay the fine in specified portions or installments at designated periodic intervals and that the portions be remitted to a designated official, who shall report to the court in the event of any failure to comply with the order; or (4) Where the defendant is sentenced to a period of probation as well as a fine, that payment of the fine be a condition of the sentence.	Payment plan/installment plan	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Tennessee	Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-24-105(a)	Collection; fines, costs and litigation taxes; license revocation	Unless discharged by payment or service of imprisonment in default of a fine, a fine may be collected in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action. The + See more trial court may also enforce all orders assessing any fine remaining in default by contempt upon a finding by the court that the defendant has the present ability to pay the fine and willfully refuses to pay. Costs and litigation taxes due may be collected in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action, but shall not be deemed part of the penalty, and no person shall be imprisoned under this section in default of payment of costs or litigation taxes. The following shall be the allocation formula for moneys paid into court: the first moneys paid in any case shall first be credited toward payment of litigation taxes and once litigation taxes have been paid, the next moneys shall be credited toward payment of costs; then additional moneys shall be credited toward payment of the fine.	Property liens	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Tennessee	Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-24-105(b)	Collection; fines, costs and litigation taxes; license revocation	A license issued under title 55 for any operator or chauffeur shall be revoked by the commissioner of safety if the licensee has not paid all litigation taxes, court costs, + See more and fines assessed as a result of disposition of any offense under the criminal laws of this state within one (1) year of the date of disposition of the offense. The license shall remain revoked until such time as the person whose license has been revoked provides proof to the commissioner of safety that all litigation taxes, court costs, and fines have been paid.	Driver's license suspension/impoundment	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Tennessee	Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-24-105(d)(2)	Collection; fines, costs and litigation taxes; license revocation	On or after January 1, 2015, if an agent is used, the agent's collection fee shall be added to the total amount owed. The agent's collection fee shall not exceed + See more forty percent (40%) of any amounts actually collected. When moneys are paid into court, the allocation formula outlined in subsection (a) shall be followed, except up to forty percent (40%) may be withheld for the collection agent, with the remainder being allocated according to the formula.	Collection fee/interest	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Tennessee	Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-24-105(g)	Collection; fines, costs and litigation taxes; license revocation	After a fine, costs, or litigation taxes have been in default for at least five (5) years, the criminal or general sessions court clerk may, subject to approval by a + See more court of competent jurisdiction, accept a lump-sum partial payment in full settlement of the outstanding balance due on a case. The court shall not approve a settlement unless the amount accepted is equal to or greater than fifty percent (50%) of the combined outstanding balance of all fines, costs, and litigation taxes due on the case. When moneys are paid into court pursuant to this subsection (g), the allocation formula outlined in subsection (a) shall be followed, except the percentage that may be retained by the clerk pursuant to subsection (d) may be withheld, with the remainder being allocated according to the formula.	Payment plan/installment plan	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Tennessee	Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-4-106	Fines and Costs	On conviction, the offender shall immediately pay the fine and costs, or give security to pay them, or be imprisoned until they are paid. The fine and costs, if paid + See more before execution, shall be paid to the clerk; if paid after execution, to the officer having the execution.	Incarceration	All	Yes

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