50-State Criminal Justice Debt Reform Builder Bringing transparency to areas of significant legal complexity.
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.
15 Results
| State | Statute | Description/Statute Name | Statutory language | Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap | Level of offense | Mandatory | |
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Alabama | Ala.Code 1975 § 14-4-10 | Hard labor; additional sentence |
Whenever any convict is sentenced by the court and required to do hard labor for the county, an additional sentence not to exceed 10 months in any case for the payment of costs of conviction may be imposed, and the court must determine a reasonable time required to work out such costs. The costs of conviction of county convicts shall be the same as provided by law now in force in the respective counties.
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Incarceration | All | No |
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Alabama | Ala.Code 1975 § 15-18-62 | Costs and Fines: willful nonpayment by defendant |
In cases of willful nonpayment of the fine and costs, the defendant shall either be imprisoned in the county jail or, at the discretion of the court, sentenced to hard labor for the county as follows:(1) If the fine and costs do not exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250), no more than 10 days; (2) If the fine and costs exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250) but do not exceed five hundred dollars ($500), no more than 20 days; (3) If the fine and costs exceed five hundred dollars ($500), but do not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), no more than 30 days; and (4) For every additional one hundred dollars ($100) or fractional part thereof, 4 days.
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Incarceration | All | Yes |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.55.051(a) | Enforcement of Fines and Restitution |
If the court does not find that the default was attributable to the defendant's inability to pay despite having made continuing good faith efforts to pay the fine or restitution, the court may order the defendant imprisoned subject to the limits set out in AS 12.55.110. A term of imprisonment imposed under this section may not exceed one day for each $50 of the unpaid portion of the fine or restitution or one year, whichever is shorter. Credit shall be given toward satisfaction of the order of the court for every day a person is incarcerated for nonpayment of a fine or restitution.
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Incarceration | All | No |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. Ann. § 28.15.181(g) | Court Suspensions, Revocations, and Limitations |
The court may suspend the driver's license, privilege to drive, or privilege to obtain a license of a person who fails to appear in court as required by a citation for an offense involving a moving motor vehicle, or who fails to pay a fine as required by the court for an offense involving a moving motor vehicle. If the court suspends a driver's license under this subsection, the court shall also provide notice of the suspension to the department. A suspension imposed under this subsection remains in effect until the person appears in court as required by the citation, or pays the fine as required by the court. When the person appears in court or pays the required fine, the court shall terminate the suspension imposed under this subsection and provide the department and the person with written notice of the termination.
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Driver's license suspension/impoundment | Traffic | No |
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Alaska | AK Const. Art. 1, § 17 | Imprisonment for Debt |
There shall be no imprisonment for debt. This section does not prohibit civil arrest of absconding debtors. |
Incarceration | All | Yes |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. Ann. § 28.01.015(a)(5) | Municipal Impoundment and Forfeiture |
(a) Notwithstanding other provisions in this title, a municipality may adopt an ordinance providing for the impoundment or forfeiture of a: (5) motor vehicle used by a person who has $1,000 or more in delinquent traffic fines for moving violations committed within the municipality.
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Driver's license suspension/impoundment | Traffic | No |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. § 28.20.270 | Suspension for Nonpayment of Judgments |
Upon receipt of a certified copy of a judgment and a certificate of facts relative to the judgment, the department shall immediately suspend the license or nonresident’s operating privilege of a person against whom the judgment is given except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
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Driver's license suspension/impoundment | Traffic | Yes |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. § 28.20.370 | Installment Payment of Judgments; Default |
(a) A judgment debtor upon due notice to the judgment creditor may apply to the court in which such judgment was rendered for the privilege of paying the judgment in installments and the court, without prejudice at any other legal remedy, may order and fix the amount and time of payment of the installments; (b) The department may not suspend a license or nonresident’s operating privilege, and shall restore a license or nonresident’s operating privilege suspended following nonpayment of a judgment, when the judgment debtor gives proof of financial responsibility and obtains an order permitting the payment of the judgment in installments; (c) If the judgment debtor fails to pay an installment specified by the court order, upon notice of default, the department shall immediately suspend the license or nonresident’s operating privilege of the judgment debtor until the judgment is satisfied as provided in this chapter.
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Driver's license suspension/impoundment | Traffic | No |
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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 fee, the court may hold the party in contempt.
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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 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.
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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. § 302.341 |
Moving traffic violation, failure to prepay fine or appear in court, license suspended, procedure — reinstatement when — excessive revenue from fines to be distributed to schools — definition, state + See morehighways
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If a Missouri resident charged with a moving traffic violation of this state or any county or municipality of this state fails to dispose of the charges of which the resident is accused through authorized prepayment of fine and court costs and fails to appear on the return date or at any subsequent date to which the case has been continued, or without good cause fails to pay any fine or court costs assessed against the resident for any such violation within the period of time specified or in such installments as approved by the court or as otherwise provided by law, any court having jurisdiction over the charges shall within ten days of the failure to comply inform the defendant by ordinary mail at the last address shown on the court records that the court will order the director of revenue to suspend the defendant's driving privileges if the charges are not disposed of and fully paid within thirty days from the date of mailing. Thereafter, if the defendant fails to timely act to dispose of the charges and fully pay any applicable fines and court costs, the court shall notify the director of revenue of such failure and of the pending charges against the defendant. Upon receipt of this notification, the director shall suspend the license of the driver, effective immediately, and provide notice of the suspension to the driver at the last address for the driver shown on the records of the department of revenue. Such suspension shall remain in effect until the court with the subject pending charge requests setting aside the noncompliance suspension pending final disposition, or satisfactory evidence of disposition of pending charges and payment of fine and court costs, if applicable, is furnished to the director by the individual. The filing of financial responsibility with the bureau of safety responsibility, department of revenue, shall not be required as a condition of reinstatement of a driver's license suspended solely under the provisions of this section.
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Driver's license suspension/impoundment | Traffic | Yes |
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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 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.
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Incarceration, Increased fine | 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.