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Poverty Penalties and Poverty Traps
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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.
13 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. § 16-11-101.6(6)(a) | Collection of Fines and Fees - Methods - Charges - Judicial Collection Enhancement Fund |
The judicial department may enter into a memorandum of understanding with the state treasurer, acting as the administrator of unclaimed property under the "Unclaimed Property Act", article 13 of title 38, C.R.S., for the purpose of offsetting against a claim for unclaimed property the amount of outstanding fines, fees, costs, or surcharges owed pursuant to law or an order entered by a court of this state by the person claiming unclaimed property. When an offset is to be made, the judicial department or the court to which the fines, fees, costs, or surcharges are owed shall notify the defendant in writing that the state intends to offset the defendant's outstanding fines, fees, costs, or surcharges against his or her claim for unclaimed property.
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Property liens | All | No |
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Colorado | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 16-11-101.8(1) | State Income Tax Refund Offsets - Fines, Fees, Costs, or Surcharges - Definitions |
In any case in which a defendant has an unsatisfied fine, fee, cost, or surcharge obligation imposed pursuant to law or a court order, the judicial department is authorized to transmit data concerning the obligation to the department of revenue for the purpose of conducting a data match and offsetting the obligation against a state income tax refund pursuant to section 39-21-108(3), or lottery winnings pursuant to section 44-40-114.
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Wage/bank account garnishment | All | No |
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Colorado | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-1.3-207(2) | Work and Education Release Programs |
All employment income of a probationer participating in a work release program shall be received and deposited by the probation officer in the registry of the court. |
Work program/jail industry program | All | Yes |
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Colorado | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-1.3-702(3)(b) | Monetary Payments - Due Process Required |
Except in the case of a corporation, if the defendant failed to pay a monetary amount due and the record indicates that the defendant has willfully failed to pay that monetary amount, the court, when appropriate, may consider a motion to impose part or all of a suspended sentence, may consider a motion to revoke probation, or may institute proceedings for contempt of court.
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Condition or extension of supervision | All | No |
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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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Delaware | 11 Del. C. § 4104(e) | Fines, Costs or Restitution; How Collected; Holding Operator's License as Security for Payment |
Whenever any person lawfully possessed of an operator's license theretofore issued to the person by the Division of Motor Vehicles of the Department of Transportation of the State, or under the laws of any other state or territory, or of the District of Columbia, shall be arrested and charged with any violation of the traffic or criminal laws of this State, or of any political subdivision thereof, a court, as a condition of sentencing, may take and hold, as security for the payment of any fine, costs, restitution or Victims Compensation Fund assessment, the operator's license so issued to the defendant.
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Driver's license suspension/impoundment | All | No |
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Delaware | 11 Del. C. § 4104(c) | Fines, Costs or Restitution; How Collected; Holding Operator's License as Security for Payment |
Any court may, in its discretion, direct any person sentenced to pay a fine or restitution upon conviction of a crime, who is employed within this State or by a Delaware resident or employer, to execute an assignment of a specified periodic sum not to exceed 1/3 of the person's total earnings, which assignment shall direct the person's employer to withhold and remit that amount to this State up to the total of the fine, costs and restitution imposed.
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Wage/bank account garnishment | All | No |
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Delaware | 11 Del. C. § 4104(a)(1)-(2) | Fines, Costs or Restitution; How Collected; Holding Operator's License as Security for Payment |
When a court imposes a fine, costs or restitution upon a defendant, the court or justice of the peace may direct as follows:(1) That the defendant pay the entire amount at the time sentence is imposed; (2) That the defendant pay a specified portion of the fine, costs or restitution at designated periodic intervals, and in such case may direct that the fine, costs or restitution be remitted to a probation officer who shall report to the court, at such periods as the court may direct, any failure to comply with the orders; or
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Payment plan/installment plan | All | No |
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Delaware | 11 Del. C. § 4104(a)(3) | Fines, Costs or Restitution; How Collected; Holding Operator's License as Security for Payment |
(a) When a court imposes a fine, costs or restitution upon a defendant, the court or justice of the peace may direct as follows: . . . (3) Where the defendant is sentenced to a period of probation as well as fine, costs or restitution that payment of the fines, costs or restitution shall be a condition of the probation.
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Condition or extension of supervision | All | Yes |
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Delaware | 11 Del. C. § 4105(b)(1) | Default in Payment of Fine; Inability to Pay |
Where a person sentenced to pay a fine, costs, restitution or all 3, on conviction of a crime is unable or fails to pay such fine, costs, restitution or all 3, at the time of imposition of sentence or in accordance with the terms of payment set by the court, the court may order the person to report at any time to the Commissioner of the Department of Correction, or a person designated by the Commissioner, for work for a number and schedule of hours necessary to discharge the fine, costs or restitution imposed.
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Work program/jail industry program | All | No |
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Delaware | 11 Del. C. § 4105(d) | Default in Payment of Fine; Inability to Pay |
Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, where a defendant sentenced to be imprisoned is ordered to pay a fine, costs, restitution or all 3, the court may order an additional sentence of imprisonment in lieu of requiring the payment of the fine, costs, restitution or all 3; provided, however, that this additional sentence of imprisonment may not exceed 30 days, to be served concurrently or consecutively with the sentence originally imposed, as the court may order.
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Incarceration | All | No |
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Delaware | 21 Del. C. § 2732(b) | Mandatory Revocation or Suspension of License or Refusal to Renew or Issue a Duplicate License |
Upon receiving a record of the failure of a convicted person to pay a fine, costs or both as described in § 2731(b) of this title, or to timely complete a course of instruction pursuant to § 4175A or § 4177D of this title, the Department or its successor, shall: (1) If the convicted person is a resident of this State, forthwith suspend the convicted person's license until the fine, costs or both have been paid, or the court finds that the person has completed the necessary course of instruction and paid all applicable fees; and (2) If the convicted person is a nonresident of this State, forthwith suspend the convicted person's driving privileges in this State and immediately advise the Motor Vehicle Administrator of the state wherein the convicted person is a resident that the convicted person has failed to pay a fine, costs or both, or to timely complete a course of instruction pursuant to § 4175A or § 4177D of this title, and requesting that the convicted person's license to drive be suspended until the fine, costs or both have been paid, or the court finds that the person has completed the necessary course of instruction and paid all applicable fees.
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Driver's license suspension/impoundment | All | Yes |
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.