50-State Criminal Justice Debt Reform Builder Bringing transparency to areas of significant legal complexity.
Poverty Penalties and Poverty Traps
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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.
7 Results
| State | Statute | Description/Statute Name | Statutory language | Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap | Level of offense | Mandatory | |
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Colorado | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-1.3-702(2)(c) | Monetary Payments - Due Process Required |
If the defendant has the ability to pay the monetary amount as directed by the court or the court's designee but willfully fails to pay, the defendant may be imprisoned for failure to comply with the court's lawful order to pay pursuant to the terms of this section.
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Incarceration | All | No |
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Colorado | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-1.3-702(5) | Monetary Payments - Failure to Pay |
(5) If the court finds a defendant in contempt of court for willful failure to pay, the court may direct that the defendant be imprisoned until the monetary payment ordered by the court is made, but the court shall specify a maximum period of imprisonment subject to the following limits: (a) When the monetary amount was imposed for a felony, the period shall not exceed one year; (b) When the monetary amount was imposed for a misdemeanor, the period shall not exceed one-third of the maximum term of imprisonment authorized for the misdemeanor; (c) When the monetary amount was imposed for a petty offense, a traffic violation, or a violation of a municipal ordinance, any of which is punishable by a possible jail sentence, the period shall not exceed fifteen days; (d) There shall be no imprisonment in those cases when no imprisonment is provided for in the possible sentence; and (e) When a sentence of imprisonment and a monetary amount was imposed, the aggregate of the period and the term of the sentence shall not exceed the maximum term of imprisonment authorized for the offense.
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Incarceration | All | No |
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New Jersey | N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:46-2 | Consequences of Nonpayment |
If the court finds that the person defaulted on payment of a court-imposed financial obligation, restitution, or child support or other support or maintenance ordered by a court without good cause and finds + See morethat the default was willful, the court may, in addition to the action required by paragraph (1) of this subsection a., impose a term of imprisonment or participation in a labor assistance program or enforced community service to achieve the objective of the court-imposed financial obligation, restitution, or child support or other support or maintenance ordered by a court. These options shall not reduce the amount owed by the person in default. The term of imprisonment or enforced community service or participation in a labor assistance program in such case shall be specified in the order of commitment. It need not be equated with any particular dollar amount but, in the case of a fine it shall not exceed one day for each $50 of the fine nor shall it exceed a period of 90 consecutive days. In no case shall the total period of imprisonment in the case of a disorderly persons offense for both the sentence of imprisonment and for failure to pay a fine exceed six months.
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Incarceration | All | No |
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Rhode Island | R.I. Gen. Laws. Ann. § 12-21-9 | Commitment for failure to obey judgment or sentence |
If any person against whom sentence is passed or judgment rendered, under any penal statute, shall refuse or neglect to perform the sentence or to pay the judgment, he or she shall, by order of the court passing the sentence or by the officer charged with the execution issued on the judgment, be committed to the adult correctional institutions, and be imprisoned there until the sentence is performed or he or she is discharged by due course of law.
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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 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.
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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. 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.
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Incarceration | All | No |
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Wyoming | Wyo. R. Crim. P. 46.4(c) | Sanctions for Failure to Appear or for Violation of Release Order |
(c) Violation of release condition. A person who has been released under Rule 46.1, 46.2, or Rule 46.3 and who has violated a condition of that release, is subject to a revocation of release and a prosecution for contempt of court.
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Incarceration | All | No |
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