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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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.
9 Results
| State | Statute | Description/Statute Name | Statutory language | Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap | Level of offense | Mandatory | |
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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 assessed, in one or several sums, based on the defendant's ability to pay; and
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Condition or extension of supervision | All | No |
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Vermont | Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 28 § 252(b)(7) | Condition of probation |
(b) When imposing a sentence of probation, the court may, as a condition of probation, require that the offender: (6) Make restitution or reparation to the victim of his or her conduct, or to the Victims' Compensation Fund to the extent it has made payment to or on behalf of the victim in accordance with 13 V.S.A. chapter 167, for the damage or injury which was sustained. When restitution or reparation is a condition of the sentence, the court, in accordance with 13 V.S.A. § 7043, shall fix the amount thereof, which shall not exceed an amount the defendant can or will be able to pay, and shall fix the manner of performance. (7) Pay a fine authorized in accordance with law.
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Condition or extension of supervision | All | No |
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Vermont | Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13 § 7043(f)(1) | Restitution |
If not paid at the time of sentencing, restitution may be ordered as a condition of probation, supervised community sentence, furlough, preapproved furlough, or parole if the convicted person is sentenced to preapproved furlough, probation, or supervised community sentence, or is sentenced to imprisonment and later placed on parole. A person shall not be placed on probation solely for purposes of paying restitution. An offender may not be charged with a violation of probation, furlough, or parole for nonpayment of a restitution obligation incurred after July 1, 2004.
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Condition or extension of supervision | All | No |
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Vermont | Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 28 § 502b(c) | Terms and conditions of parole |
(c) A person residing in and participating in programs at a treatment center shall abide by the rules and regulations of the center and may be required to pay such costs incident to residents as the Commissioner deems appropriate.
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Condition or extension of supervision | All | No |
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West Virginia | W. Va. Code § 62-11A-1a(a)(3) | Other sentencing alternatives. |
Any person who has been convicted in a circuit court or in a magistrate court under any criminal provision of this code of a misdemeanor or felony, which is punishable by imposition of a fine or confinement in a regional jail or a state correctional institution, or both fine and confinement, may, in the discretion of the sentencing judge or magistrate, as an alternative to the sentence imposed by statute for the crime, be sentenced under one of the following programs: (3) The community service program under which a sentenced person would spend no time in jail, but would be sentenced to a number of hours or days of community service work with government entities or charitable or nonprofit entities approved by the circuit court. Regarding any portion of the sentence designated as confinement, eight hours of community service work is to be credited as one day of the sentence imposed. Regarding any portion of the sentence designated as a fine, the fine is to be credited at an hourly rate equal to the prevailing federal minimum wage at the time the sentence was imposed. In the discretion of the court, the sentence credits may run concurrently or consecutively. A person sentenced under this program may be required to provide his or her own transportation to and from the work site, lunch and work clothes.
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Community service | All | No |
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West Virginia | W. Va. Code § 62-4-16 | Community service work may be substituted in lieu of a fine in municipal court |
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, a municipal judge may substitute in lieu of the imposition of a sentence of incarceration or imposition of a fine, substitute community service work for such incarceration or fine. Where community service work is ordered as a substitute on a sentence of incarceration an eight hour work day shall extinguish one day of any sentence of incarceration. The minimum wage established by the prevailing federal minimum wage in effect at the time of sentencing is imposed shall be used to compute the amount of community service work necessary to extinguish the fine. In the discretion of the court, the sentence credits may run concurrently or consecutively.(b) Any community service ordered pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be performed for government entities or charitable or nonprofit entities and be supervised by the chief of police of the municipality or his or her designee.
(c) Persons sentenced under the provisions of this section remain under the jurisdiction of the municipal court. The court may withdraw the community service sentence at any time by order entered with or without notice and order a person previously sentenced to community service to serve the term of incarceration or to pay the fine available to the court upon the person's conviction: Provided, That any community service work performed before the community service sentence is withdrawn shall be credited against any term of incarceration or fine imposed. |
Community service | All | No |
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West Virginia | W. Va. Code § 61-3-390 | Agreement to suspend prosecution of a person accepted into the restitution program |
(a) The prosecuting attorney may enter into an agreement with a participant of the worthless check restitution program to suspend prosecution for a period to be determined by the prosecuting attorney.
(b) To remain eligible for the worthless check restitution program, the participant shall: (1) Contact a representative of the program before the date required by the notice sent pursuant to section thirty-nine-n [§ 61-3-39n] of this article; (2) Agree to comply with all the program terms; (3) Complete a class conducted by the prosecuting attorney, his or her designee, or a private entity under contract with the prosecuting attorney, which offers offender education and instruction; (4) Pay a fee in the amount of ten dollars to be deposited in the “worthless check fund” established pursuant to the provisions of section thirty-nine-h [§ 61-3-39h] of this article; (5) Pay the fee required to participate in the class; (6) Pay full victim restitution; and (7) Pay all fees for participation in the program, unless those fees are waived. (c) The prosecuting attorney shall agree not to file criminal charges if the participant in the program completes the conditions of the agreement. |
Condition or extension of supervision | All | No |
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West Virginia | W. Va. Code § 62-12-9(a)(5), (b)(1)-(3) | Conditions of release on probation |
(a) Release on probation is conditioned upon the following: (5) That the probationer pay a fee, not to exceed $20 per month, to defray costs of supervision: Provided, That the court conducts a hearing prior to imposition of probation and makes a determination on the record that the offender is able to pay the fee without undue hardship. All moneys collected as fees from probationers pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited with the circuit clerk who shall, on a monthly basis, remit the moneys collected to the State Treasurer for deposit in the State General Revenue Fund; and
(b) In addition, the court may impose, subject to modification at any time, any other conditions which it may determine advisable, including, but not limited to, any of the following: (1) That the probationer make restitution or reparation, in whole or in part, immediately or within the period of probation, to any party injured by the crime for which he or she has been convicted: Provided, That the court conducts a hearing prior to imposition of probation and makes a determination on the record that the offender is able to pay restitution without undue hardship; (2) That the probationer pays any fine assessed and the costs of the proceeding in installments directed by the court: Provided, That the court conducts a hearing prior to imposition of probation and makes a determination on the record that the offender is able to pay the costs without undue hardship; (3) That the probationer makes contributions from his or her earnings, in sums directed by the court, for the support of his or her dependents; and |
Condition or extension of supervision, Wage/bank account garnishment | All | No |
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West Virginia | W. Va. Code § 62-12-17(a)(5) | Conditions of release on probation and parole |
(a) Release and supervision on parole of any person, including the supervision by the Division of Corrections of any person paroled by any other state or by the federal government, shall be upon the following conditions: (5) That the parolee, and all federal or foreign state probationers and parolees whose supervision may have been undertaken by this state, pay a fee, based on his or her ability to pay, not to exceed $40 per month to defray the costs of supervision.
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Condition or extension of supervision | 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.