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
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Louisiana LA Rev Stat §1381.2. Orleans ParishSheriff's detention and prison security fee fund
A. Any defendant, other than an indigent, who pleads guilty or is convicted of an offense by the Criminal District Court for the Parish of Orleans shall be assessed a
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fee of not less than twenty-five dollars, such costs to be in addition to any fine, clerk's fees, costs due to the criminal court cost fund or sentence imposed by the court. When any defendant, other than an indigent, fails to pay the costs referred to hereinabove, he shall be sentenced to a term of thirty days in the parish prison in default of the payment of same.
Incarceration All Yes
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Louisiana CCRP 884 Sentence of fine with imprisonment for default
If a sentence imposed includes a fine or costs, the sentence shall provide that in default of payment thereof the defendant shall be imprisoned for a specified period not to
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exceed one year; provided that where the maximum prison sentence which may be imposed as a penalty for a misdemeanor is six months or less, the total period of imprisonment upon conviction of the offense, including imprisonment for default in payment of a fine or costs, shall not exceed six months for that offense.
Incarceration All No
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Louisiana CCRP 885 fine and costs
A defendant who has been imprisoned for default in the payment of a fine, or fine and costs, under a sentence imposed pursuant to Article 884, may, at any time
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before expiration of the term of imprisonment, obtain his release by paying to his custodian all of the costs imposed and a sum of money that bears the same proportion to the imposed fine as the term of alternate imprisonment yet to run bears to the whole of such term of imprisonment.
Incarceration All No
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Louisiana La. Stat. Ann. § 13:4611 Contempt
For any other contempt of court, including disobeying an order for the payment of child support or spousal support or an order for the right of custody or visitation, by
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a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisonment for not more than three months, or both.
Incarceration All No
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Louisiana LA Rev Stat §13:1377.A Thirty day jail term
A. Any defendant, other than an indigent, who pleads guilty or is convicted of an offense by the Criminal District Court for the Parish of Orleans shall be assessed
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costs of court not to exceed the sum of one hundred dollars, such costs to be in addition to any fine, clerk's fees or sentence imposed by the court. When any defendant, other than an indigent, fails to pay the costs referred to hereinabove, he shall be sentenced to a term of thirty days in the parish prison in default of the payment of same.
Incarceration All Yes
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Louisiana LA REV Stat §30:2531.6.H(3) Failure to pay fine for littering offense His failure to appear at this second hearing could subject him to another charge of contempt of court along with the punishment of serving time in jail. Incarceration Misdemeanor No
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Iowa Iowa Code § 909.5 Nonpayment of fines and court costs — contempt

A person who is able to pay a fine, court-imposed court costs for a criminal proceeding, or both, or an installment of the fine or the court-imposed court costs, or

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both, and who refuses to do so, or who fails to make a good faith effort to pay the fine, court costs, or both, or any installment thereof, shall be held in contempt of court.

Incarceration All Yes
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Iowa Iowa Code § 665.5 Contempts: Imprisonment

If the contempt consists in an omission to perform an act which is yet in the power of the person to perform, the person may be imprisoned until the person

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performs it. In that case the act to be performed must be specified in the warrant of the commitment.

Incarceration All No
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Iowa Iowa Code § 910.5(4)(b) Condition of work release or parole

If an offender is to be placed on parole, restitution shall be a condition of parole.

b. After the expiration of the offender’s sentence, the failure of an offender to comply with

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the plan of restitution ordered by the court shall constitute contempt of court.

Incarceration All Yes
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Missouri Mo. Ann. Stat. § 476.120 Punishment for contempt

Punishment for contempt may be by fine or imprisonment in the jail of the county where the court may be sitting, or both, in the discretion of the court.

Incarceration, Increased fine All No
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Missouri Mo. Ann. Stat. § 488.020 Collection of court costs, when, how

Upon notification to the party from whom the fee is due, a failure to pay the fee after such notice, and a showing of the party's ability to pay the

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fee, the court may hold the party in contempt.

Incarceration, Increased fine, Other All No
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Missouri Mo. Rev. Stat. § 488.020(3)-(4) Collection of court costs, when, how

The supreme court may provide by rule for imposition of interest on any court costs not paid within thirty days of when due. If any court cost is not paid

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when due, the following actions may be taken:

(3) Upon notification to the party from whom the court cost is due, and upon failure to pay the fee after such notice, the court may inform the office of administration of any delinquencies in excess of twenty-five dollars. Upon receiving such notice, and without further notice by the office of administration to the defaulting party, the office of administration shall deduct the amount of unpaid court costs from any payment by the state to the defaulting party under any provision of law. The office of administration shall transmit the amount set off to the court, and shall send the excess amount to the payee, with a notice that the remainder of the refund was transmitted to the court in satisfaction of all or part of the unpaid court costs. The office of administration and its officials and employees shall not be liable to any person for any action taken in accordance with the requirements of this subdivision. Any proceeding contesting any action taken by a court or the office of administration pursuant to this subdivision shall be brought in the court which certified such unpaid fees to the office of administration, and shall be deemed ancillary to the proceeding for which such unpaid fees were assessed. No appearance, responsive pleading or discovery shall be due from the office of administration in such proceeding except upon order of the court;

(4) Upon notification to the party from whom the fee is due, a failure to pay the fee after such notice, and a showing of the party's ability to pay the fee, the court may hold the party in contempt.

 

Collection fee/interest, Incarceration, Increased fine, Other, Wage/bank account garnishment All No
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Missouri Mo. Const. Art. 1, § 11 Imprisonment for debt

That no person shall be imprisoned for debt, except for nonpayment of fines and penalties imposed by law.

Incarceration All No
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Missouri Mo. Ann. Stat. § 558.006(5) Response to nonpayment

Upon default in the payment of a fine or any installment thereof, the fine may be collected by any means authorized for the enforcement of money judgments.

Incarceration, Property liens, Wage/bank account garnishment All No
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Missouri Mo. Ann. Stat. § 545.02 Recovery of fine or forfeiture, how

Whenever a fine, penalty or forfeiture is or may be inflicted by any statute of this state for any offense, the same may be recovered by indictment or information, notwithstanding

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another or different remedy for the recovery of the same may be specified in the law imposing the fine, penalty or forfeiture; provided, that in all cases the fine, penalty or forfeiture shall go to the state, county, corporation, person or persons to whom the law imposing the same declares it shall accrue.

Incarceration, Increased fine All No
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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
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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
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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
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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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Wyoming Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-10-105 Commitment for refusal to pay fine or costs; rate per day

A person committed to jail for willfully refusing to pay a fine or costs may be imprisoned if the court determines that the defendant has an ability to pay or

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that a reasonable probability exists that the defendant will have an ability to pay, until the imprisonment, at the rate of fifteen dollars ($15.00) per day, equals the amount of the fine or costs, or the amount shall be paid or secured to be paid when he is discharged.

Incarceration All No
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Wyoming Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-11-504 Commitment until fine and costs paid

If a defendant sentenced to pay a fine or costs defaults in payment, the court may order the defendant to show cause why he should not be committed to jail.

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If the court finds that the defendant's default is willful or is due to a failure on defendant's part to make a good faith effort to obtain the funds required for the payment and the court determines that the defendant has an ability to pay or that a reasonable probability exists that the defendant will have an ability to pay, the court may order him committed until the fine or costs, or a specified part thereof, is paid. The defendant shall be given a credit for each day of imprisonment at the rate provided by W.S. 6 10 105, and may earn additional credits against his fine or costs for work performed as provided by W.S. 7 16 101 through 7 16 104.

Incarceration All No
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Wyoming Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-10-105 Commitment for refusal to pay fine or costs; rate per day

A person committed to jail for willfully refusing to pay a fine or costs may be imprisoned if the court determines that the defendant has an ability to pay or

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that a reasonable probability exists that the defendant will have an ability to pay, until the imprisonment, at the rate of fifteen dollars ($15.00) per day, equals the amount of the fine or costs, or the amount shall be paid or secured to be paid when he is discharged.

Incarceration All No