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.

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.

4 Results

Export results to Excel

State Statute Description/Statute Name Statutory language Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap Level of offense Mandatory
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Texas Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 42A.607 Disposition of Salary

If a defendant who is required as a condition of community supervision to serve a term of confinement under this subchapter is not required by the judge to deliver the

+ See more
defendant’s salary to the restitution center director, the employer of the defendant shall deliver the salary to the director. The director shall deposit the salary into a fund to be given to the defendant on release after the director deducts:

(1) the cost to the center for the defendant’s food, housing, and supervision;

(2) the necessary expense for the defendant’s travel to and from work and community service projects, and other incidental expenses of the defendant;

(3) support of the defendant’s dependents; and

(4) restitution to the victims of an offense committed by the defendant

Wage/bank account garnishment All Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Texas Tex. Gov't Code Sec. 501.014(a),(e)(2),(4)-(6) Inmate Money

(a) The department shall take possession of all money that an inmate has on the inmate’s person or that is received with the inmate when the inmate arrives at a facility

+ See more
to be admitted to the custody of the department and all money the inmate receives at the department during confinement and shall credit the money to an account created for the inmate . . .

(e) On notification by a court, the department shall withdraw from an inmate’s account any amount the inmate is ordered to pay by order of the court under this subsection. On receipt of a valid court order requiring an inmate to pay child support, the department shall withdraw the appropriate amount from the inmate’s account under this subsection, regardless of whether the court order is provided by the court or another person. The department shall make a payment under this subsection as ordered by the court to either the court or the party specified in the court order. The department is not liable for withdrawing or failing to withdraw money or making payments or failing to make payments under this subsection. The department shall make withdrawals and payments from an inmate’s account under this subsection according to the following schedule of priorities: . . . (2) as payment in full for all orders for restitution . . . (4) as payment in full for all orders for court fees and costs; (5) as payment in full for all orders for fines; and (6) as payment in full for any other court order, judgment, or writ.

Wage/bank account garnishment All Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Texas Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 42A.607 Disposition of Salary

If a defendant who is required as a condition of community supervision to serve a term of confinement under this subchapter is not required by the judge to deliver the

+ See more
defendant’s salary to the restitution center director, the employer of the defendant shall deliver the salary to the director. The director shall deposit the salary into a fund to be given to the defendant on release after the director deducts: (1) the cost to the center for the defendant’s food, housing, and supervision; (2) the necessary expense for the defendant’s travel to and from work and community service projects, and other incidental expenses of the defendant; (3) support of the defendant’s dependents; and (4) restitution to the victims of an offense committed by the defendant.

Wage/bank account garnishment All Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Texas Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 43.09(a)-(e) Fine Discharged

(a) When a defendant is convicted of a misdemeanor and the defendant’s punishment is assessed at a pecuniary fine or is confined in a jail after conviction of a felony for

+ See more
which a fine is imposed, if the defendant is unable to pay the fine and costs adjudged against the defendant, the defendant may for such time as will satisfy the judgment be put to work in the county jail industries program, in the workhouse, or on the county farm, or public improvements and maintenance projects of the county or a political subdivision located in whole or in part in the county, as provided in Article 43.10; or if there is no such county jail industries program, workhouse, farm, or improvements and maintenance projects, the defendant shall be confined in jail for a sufficient length of time to discharge the full amount of fine and costs adjudged against the defendant; rating such confinement at $100 for each day and rating such labor at $100 for each day; provided, however, that the defendant may pay the pecuniary fine assessed against the defendant at any time while the defendant is serving at work in the county jail industries program, in the workhouse, or on the county farm, or on the public improvements and maintenance projects of the county or a political subdivision located in whole or in part in the county, or while the defendant is serving the defendant’s jail sentence, and in such instances the defendant is entitled to the credit earned under this subsection during the time that the defendant has served and the defendant shall only be required to pay the balance of the pecuniary fine assessed against the defendant. A defendant who performs labor under this article during a day in which the defendant is confined is entitled to both the credit for confinement and the credit for labor provided by this article.

(b) In its discretion, the court may order that for each day’s confinement served by a defendant under this article, the defendant receive credit toward payment of the pecuniary fine and credit toward payment of costs adjudged against the defendant. Additionally, the court may order that the defendant receive credit under this article for each day’s confinement served by the defendant as punishment for the offense.

(c) In its discretion, the court may order that a defendant serving concurrent, but not consecutive, sentences for two or more misdemeanors may, for each day served, receive credit toward the satisfaction of costs and fines imposed for each separate offense.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, in its discretion, the court or the sheriff of the county may grant an additional two days credit for each day served to any inmate participating in an approved work program under this article or a rehabilitation, restitution, or education program.

(e) A court in a county that operates an electronic monitoring program or contracts with a private vendor to operate an electronic monitoring program under Section 351.904, Local Government Code, or that is served by a community supervision and corrections department that operates an electronic monitoring program approved by the community justice assistance division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, may require a defendant who is unable to pay a fine or costs to discharge all or part of the fine or costs by participating in the program. A defendant who participates in an electronic monitoring program under this subsection discharges fines and costs in the same manner as if the defendant were confined in county jail.

Work program/jail industry program Misdemeanor No