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.
9 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 § 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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Alabama | Ala.Code 1975 § 12-19-311(c) | Additional fees on bail bond |
Upon the failure to pay the fee in paragraph a. of subdivision (1) of subsection (a) and upon a finding of contempt in subsection (d), the bondsman, surety, guaranty, or individuals required to pay the fee shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) in addition to the fee imposed in paragraph a. of subdivision (1) of subsection (a). The fine shall not be remitted, waived, or reduced unless the person(s) fined can show cause to the court that he or she cannot pay the fine in the reasonably foreseeable future. I
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Increased fine | All | Yes |
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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.