Keyword search across all of the laws in the states. Subject-area tabs above allow you to narrow results. Click the advanced search for further refinement.
Every law can be saved to the Reform Builder
See all poverty penalty and poverty trap policy recommendations in CJPP’s Policy Guide
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.
36 Results
State | Statute | Description/Statute Name | Statutory language | Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap | Level of offense | Mandatory | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Add to Dashboard
|
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.
|
Incarceration | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
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.
|
Incarceration | All | Yes |
Add to Dashboard
|
Alabama | Ala.Code 1975 § 15-18-144 | Restitution Withholding: Attachment of property |
Any provision of any law of this state to the contrary notwithstanding and in addition to any other remedy which is or may be hereafter provided by law for the enforcement or collection of a restitution order, any decree, judgment, or order requiring the payment of restitution may include, upon motion of the victim, district attorney, the Attorney General, or the court, an order requiring that any asset or other income or any portion thereof to which a defendant is or may be entitled be withheld or attached, and such order may also require any person in real or constructive possession, custody, or control thereof to pay over, deliver, convey, transfer, or assign the same to the clerk of the court for disbursement, transfer, or assignment to the victim in accordance with the defendant's restitution obligation. If the prison authority reasonably believes that the defendant's outgoing mail contains any object or any item that has monetary value, the object or item shall be seized and transferred to the court of original jurisdiction. If the court determines that the item or object seized has monetary value, the item or object shall be transferred to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund for disbursement, transfer, or assignment to the victim for satisfaction of the defendant's outstanding restitution obligations. If the court determines that the item or object seized does not have any monetary value, the court shall return such to the prison to be promptly placed in the U.S. mail.
|
Wage/bank account garnishment | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Alabama | Ala.Code 1975 § 12-23-7 | Drug testing program |
Any person who fails to complete treatment and pay for it shall be charged with violation of probation or parole |
Condition or extension of supervision | All | Yes |
Add to Dashboard
|
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
|
Increased fine | All | Yes |
Add to Dashboard
|
Alabama | Ala.Code 1975 § 12-18-72 | Restitution to victim's of crimes: Condition of probation or parole; default. |
(a) When a defendant whose sentence has been suspended and placed on probation by the court, and ordered to make restitution, defaults in the payment thereof or of any installment, the court on motion of the victim or the district attorney or upon its own motion shall require the defendant to show cause why his default should not be treated as violation of a condition of his probation.
(b) When the defendant is sentenced to the penitentiary by the court, and the court orders restitution, it shall be made a condition of his parole that restitution be made. When the parolee defaults in the payment thereof or any installment, the parole board on motion of the victim or the district attorney or the supervising parole officer, may require the defendant to show cause why his default should not be treated as a violation of a condition of parole, and the board may declare the parolee delinquent and after due process may revoke his parole. |
Extension of probation/supervision | Misdemeanor, Felony | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 33-37-5-22 (b) | Applicability — Late Payment Fee — Requirement to Pay — Defendant Not Indigent |
A court may adopt a local rule to impose a late payment fee under this section on defendants described in subsection (a). |
Increased fine | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Ind. Code § 35-38-1-18 (d)(2)-(3) | Payment of Fines |
(d) Upon any default in the payment of the fine:... (2) the court may direct that the person, if the person is not indigent, be committed to the county jail and credited toward payment at the rate of twenty dollars ($20) for each twenty-four (24) hour period the person is confined, until the amount paid plus the amount credited equals the entire amount due; or (3) the court may institute contempt proceedings or order the convicted person’s wages, salary, and other income garnished in accordance with IC 24-4.5-5-105 to enforce the court’s order for payment of the fine.
|
Incarceration, Wage/bank account garnishment | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Ind. Code § 35-38-2-1.7 (d) | Payment of Probation User’s Fee — Lien — Garnishment |
If a court orders a person to pay a probation user's fee under section 1 or 1.5 of this chapter, the court may garnish the wages, salary, and other income earned by the person to enforce the order.
|
Wage/bank account garnishment | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Ind. Code § 33-37-4-10 | Itemized Fee Bills — Duty of Sheriff to Collect |
(a) Not later than seventy-five (75) days after judgment is entered in an action, the clerk shall issue an itemized fee bill for the collection of fees that were charged against the party in that action and that remain unpaid. The clerk shall present the fee bill for collection to the sheriff of a county in which the debtor party resides or in which the debtor party has property.(b) The sheriff shall do the following: (1) Collect the amount due under the fee bill. (2) Return the fee bill to the clerk not more than sixty (60) days after the day the fee bill was issued. (c) After presented to the sheriff, a fee bill has the effect of an execution and operates as a lien upon the real and personal property of the debtor. (d) A successor of an officer may issue fee bills for the fees of the officer's predecessors in office in the manner provided under this chapter. A clerk may issue the fee bills of the sheriff or the former sheriffs of the county in the same manner.
|
Property liens | All | Yes |
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 9-30-11-3 | Notice to Three - Time Violator |
If it appears from the records of a court that has jurisdiction to enforce ordinances that regulate parking violations that three (3) judgments concerning a motor vehicle have not been paid before the deadlines established by a statute, an ordinance, or a court order, the clerk of the court shall send a notice to the person who is the registered owner of the motor vehicle. The notice must inform the person of the following:(1) That the clerk will send a referral to the bureau if the judgments are not paid within thirty (30) days after a notice was mailed. (2) That the referral will result in the suspension of the motor vehicle's registration if the judgments are not paid.
|
Driver's license suspension/impoundment | Traffic | Yes |
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 35-50-5-3 (b); (h) | Restitution Orders |
(b) A restitution order under subsection (a), (i), (j), (l), or (m), is a judgment lien that:(1) attaches to the property of the person subject to the order; (2) may be perfected; (3) may be enforced to satisfy any payment that is delinquent under the restitution order by the person in whose favor the order is issued or the person's assignee; and (4) expires; in the same manner as a judgment lien created in a civil proceeding ... (h) The attorney general may pursue restitution ordered by the court under subsections (a) and (c) on behalf of the victim services division of the Indiana criminal justice institute established under IC 5-2-6-8.
|
Civil judgment, Property liens | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 35-33-8-3.3 (h) - (m) | Pretrial Services Fees |
(i) A probation department or pretrial services agency may petition a court to: (1) impose a pretrial services fee on a defendant; or (2) increase a defendant’s pretrial services fee; if the financial ability of the defendant to pay a pretrial services fee changes while the defendant is on bail and supervised by a probation officer or pretrial services agency. (j) An order to pay a pretrial services fee under this section: (1) is a judgment lien that, upon the defendant’s conviction (A) attaches to the property of the defendant; (B) may be perfected; (C) may be enforced to satisfy any payment that is delinquent under this section; and (D) expires; in the same manner as a judgment lien created in a civil proceeding; (2) is not discharged by the disposition of charges against the defendant or by the completion of a sentence, if any, imposed on the defendant; (3) is not discharged by the liquidation of a defendant’s estate by a receiver under IC 32-30-5; and (4) is immediately terminated if a defendant is acquitted or if charges against the defendant are dropped. (k) If a court orders a defendant to pay a pretrial services fee, the court may, upon the defendant’s conviction, enforce the order by garnishing the wages, salary, and other income earned by the defendant. (l) In addition to other methods of payment allowed by law, a probation department or pretrial services agency may accept payment of a pretrial services fee by credit card (as defined in IC 14-11-1-7(a)). The liability for payment is not discharged until the probation department or pretrial services agency receives payment or credit from the institution responsible for making the payment or credit. (m) The probation department or pretrial services agency may contract with a bank or credit card vendor for acceptance of a bank or credit card. However, if there is a vendor transaction charge or discount fee, whether billed to the probation department or pretrial services agency, or charged directly to the account of the probation department or pretrial services agency, the probation department or pretrial services agency may collect a credit card service fee from the person using the bank or credit card. The fee collected under this subsection is a permitted additional charge to the fee or fees the defendant may be required to pay under subsection (e).
|
Collection fee/interest, Increased fine, Property liens, Wage/bank account garnishment | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 33-37-2-3 (a)(4); (d) | Indigency Hearing — Suspension of Costs — Default — Fees for Representation — Rights and Protections |
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), when the court imposes costs, it shall conduct a hearing to determine whether the convicted person is indigent. If the person is not indigent, the court shall order the person to pay: ... (4) the entire amount of the costs at some later date, less any amount credited under subsections (g) through (i) for the performance of: (A) allowable community service work ordered by the court as part of the person’s sentence or as part of the person’s probation; or (B) uncompensated volunteer work approved by the court at a nonprofit or municipal corporation that benefits the community, even if the volunteer work is not ordered by the court. ... (d) Upon any default in the payment of the costs: (1) an attorney representing the county may bring an action on a debt for the unpaid amount; (2) the court may direct that the person, if the person is not indigent, be committed to the county jail and credited toward payment at the rate of twenty dollars ($20) for each twenty-four (24) hour period the person is confined, until the amount paid plus the amount credited equals the entire amount due; or (3) the court may institute contempt proceedings to enforce the court's order for payment of the costs.
|
Civil judgment, Community service, Incarceration | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Tennessee | Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-50-507 | Community Service Work |
By a majority vote of the applicable local legislative body, any county or city may, by resolution or ordinance, establish a program that allows any person who is indigent and + See morewho has been convicted of driving while the person's license is cancelled, suspended, or revoked in violation of § 55-50-504(a) to complete community service work in lieu of paying the fines and other costs imposed for the conviction. The community service program shall be administered and monitored by the appropriate entity that administers court-ordered community service within the applicable jurisdiction.
|
Community service | All | No |
Add to Dashboard
|
Tennessee | Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-2-129(b)(4) | Compensation and salaries; work release | (4) If the prisoner is gainfully self-employed, the prisoner shall pay for such board, in default of which the prisoner's privilege under §§ 41-2-127 -- 41-2-132 shall be automatically forfeited. | Other | All | Yes |
Add to Dashboard
|
Tennessee | Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-2-128(5) | Prisoners who may apply for release -- Procedure. |
(5) (A) The judge shall, at the time of sentencing, cause the sentencing order to reflect the defendant's cost of incarceration and treatment and shall affix to the order, + See moretaking into consideration the defendant's ability to pay, the time and manner in which the costs are to be paid. The court shall enter the necessary orders requiring that the costs of incarceration and treatment be paid or secured, including, but not limited to, orders of probation that include, as a condition thereof, the payment of costs covered by this subdivision (c)(5).
|
Condition or extension of supervision | All | Yes |
Add to Dashboard
|
Tennessee | Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-24-104(b) | Revocation of Driver's License |
Whenever a court orders a defendant to pay a fine, imposed as a result of a traffic violation, in installment payments, the court shall revoke the defendant's privilege to operate + See morea motor vehicle in this state upon the failure of the defendant to comply with the order of the court. If the defendant's privilege to operate a motor vehicle has been revoked for the failure to comply with the court order, the privilege shall remain so revoked until the total amount of the fine imposed is paid.
|
Driver's license suspension/impoundment | All | Yes |
Add to Dashboard
|
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 + See moreand 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 |
Add to Dashboard
|
Tennessee | Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-24-101(a) | Installments |
(a) When any court of this state, including municipal courts for violation of municipal ordinances, imposes a fine upon an individual, the court may direct as follows: (1) That the + See moredefendant pay the entire amount at the time sentence is pronounced; (2) That the defendant pay the entire amount at some later date; (3) That the defendant pay the fine in specified portions or installments at designated periodic intervals and that the portions be remitted to a designated official, who shall report to the court in the event of any failure to comply with the order; or (4) Where the defendant is sentenced to a period of probation as well as a fine, that payment of the fine be a condition of the sentence.
|
Payment plan/installment plan | 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.