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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- Civil judgment (2)
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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.
18 Results
| State | Statute | Description/Statute Name | Statutory language | Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap | Level of offense | Mandatory | |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.55.025(f) | Sentencing Procedures |
A sentence that the defendant pay money, either as a fine or in restitution or both, constitutes a lien in the same manner as a judgment for money entered in a civil action. Nothing in this section limits the authority of the court to otherwise enforce payment of a fine or restitution.
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Property liens | All | Yes |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.55.035(d) | Fines |
If a defendant is sentenced to pay a fine, the court may grant permission for the payment to be made within a specified period of time or in specified installments. |
Payment plan/installment plan | All | No |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.55.051(a) | Enforcement of Fines and Restitution |
If the defendant defaults in the payment of a fine or any installment or of restitution or any installment, the court may order the defendant to show cause why the defendant should not be sentenced to imprisonment for nonpayment and, if the payment was made a condition of the defendant's probation, may revoke the probation of the defendant subject to the limits set out in AS 12.55.110.
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Condition or extension of supervision | All | No |
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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. § 12.55.055(c) | Community work |
The court may offer a defendant convicted of an offense the option of performing community work in lieu of a fine, surcharge, or portion of a fine or surcharge if the court finds the defendant is unable to pay the fine. The value of community work in lieu of a fine is the state's minimum wage for each hour.
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Community service | All | 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. § 12.55.041(d) | Correctional Facility Surcharge |
The court shall include a surcharge imposed under (a) of this section in the judgment of conviction. The court shall include the imposition of a surcharge under (c) of this section in the order revoking probation. For a surcharge that is not paid by the person as required by this section, the state shall seek reimbursement from the person's permanent fund dividend as provided under AS 43.23.065. For purposes of collection and priority of attachment under AS 43.23.065, a surcharge imposed under this section is accounted for in the same manner as a cost of imprisonment under AS 28.35.030(k) and 28.35.032(o). The state may enforce payment of a surcharge under this section under AS 09.35 as if it were a civil judgment enforceable by execution. This subsection does not limit the authority of the court to enforce surcharges.
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Property liens | All | Yes |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.55.045(c) | Restitution and Compensation |
If a defendant is sentenced to pay restitution, the court may grant permission for the payment to be made within a specified period of time or in specified installments. If the defendant fails to make one or more payments required under this section, the victim or the state on the victim's behalf may enforce the total amount remaining under the order of restitution as provided in (l) of this section.
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Payment plan/installment plan | All | No |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.55.045(l) | Restitution and Compensation |
An order by the court that the defendant pay restitution is a civil judgment for the amount of the restitution. An order by the court that the defendant pay restitution when the court suspends imposition of sentence under AS 12.55.085 is a civil judgment for the amount of the restitution and remains enforceable and is not discharged when a conviction is set aside under AS 12.55.085. The victim or the state on behalf of the victim may enforce the judgment through any procedure authorized by law for the enforcement of a civil judgment. If the victim enforces or collects restitution through civil process, collection costs and full reasonable attorney fees shall be awarded. If the state on the victim's behalf enforces or collects restitution through civil process, collection costs and full reasonable attorney fees shall be awarded, up to a maximum of twice the amount of restitution owing at the time the civil process was initiated. This section does not limit the authority of the court to enforce orders of restitution.
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Civil judgment | All | Yes |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. § 12.55.039(b) | Surcharge |
A court may not fail to impose the surcharge required under this section. The surcharge may not be waived, deferred, or suspended. A court may allow a defendant who is unable to pay the surcharge required to be imposed under this section to perform community work under AS 12.55.055(c) in lieu of the surcharge.
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Community service | All | No |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. § 12.55.039(c) | Surcharge |
The surcharge shall be paid within 10 days of imposition or such shorter period of time as ordered by the court. Failure to pay the surcharge is punishable as contempt of court. Proceedings to collect the surcharge may be instituted by the state, the municipality, or by the court on its own motion.
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Civil judgment | All | Yes |
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Alaska | Alaska Stat. § 12.55.035(d) | Fines |
If a defendant is sentenced to pay a fine, the court may grant permission for the payment to be made within a specified period of time or in specified installments. |
Payment plan/installment plan | All | No |
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Minnesota | Minn. Stat. Ann. § 609.101(5)(c) | Surcharge on Fines, Assessments; Minimum Fines |
The court also may authorize payment of the fine in installments. |
Payment plan/installment plan | All | No |
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Minnesota | Minn. Stat. Ann. § 609.135(1)(d),(1a) | Stay of Imposition or Execution of Sentence |
(d) If the court orders a fine, day-fine, or restitution as an intermediate sanction, payment is due on the date imposed unless the court otherwise establishes a due date or a payment plan.
Subd. 1a. Failure to pay restitution. If the court orders payment of restitution as a condition of probation and if the defendant fails to pay the restitution in accordance with the payment schedule or structure established by the court or the probation officer, the prosecutor or the defendant's probation officer may, on the prosecutor's or the officer's own motion or at the request of the victim, ask the court to hold a hearing to determine whether or not the conditions of probation should be changed or probation should be revoked. The defendant's probation officer shall ask for the hearing if the restitution ordered has not been paid prior to 60 days before the term of probation expires. The court shall schedule and hold this hearing and take appropriate action, including action under subdivision 2, paragraph (g), before the defendant's term of probation expires. Nothing in this subdivision limits the court's ability to refer the case to collections under section 609.104 when a defendant fails to pay court-ordered restitution. |
Condition or extension of supervision | All | No |
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Minnesota | Minn. Stat. Ann. § 480.15(10c)(c) | State Court Administrator: Powers and Duties |
As determined by the state court administrator, collection costs shall be added to the debts referred to a public or private collection entity for collection. |
Collection fee/interest | All | No |
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Minnesota | Minn. Stat. Ann. § 609.3455(8)(c) | Dangerous sex offenders; life sentences; conditional release |
If the offender fails to meet any condition of release, the commissioner may revoke the offender's conditional release and order that the offender serve all or a part of the remaining portion of the conditional release term in prison. An offender, while on supervised release, is not entitled to credit against the offender's conditional release term for time served in confinement for a violation of release.
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Condition or extension of supervision, Incarceration | All | No |
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Minnesota | Minn. Stat. Ann. § 628.29(4) | Pretrial diversion program for writers of dishonored checks |
Program components. (a) At a minimum, the pretrial diversion program must require offenders to: on writing checks and managing money;
(2) make full restitution to the victim of the offense; and (3) pay appropriate penalties under section 604.113, subdivision 2, paragraph (a). |
Condition or extension of supervision | All | No |
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Minnesota | M.S.A. § 609.135(1) | Stay of imposition or execution of sentence |
Except when a sentence of life imprisonment is required by law, or when a mandatory minimum sentence is required by section 609.11, any court may stay imposition or execution of sentence and:
(1) may order intermediate sanctions without placing the defendant on probation; or (2) may place the defendant on probation with or without supervision and on the terms the court prescribes, including intermediate sanctions when practicable . . . (b) For purposes of this subdivision, subdivision 6, and section 609.14, the term “intermediate sanctions” includes but is not limited to incarceration in a local jail or workhouse, home detention, electronic monitoring, intensive probation, sentencing to service, reporting to a day reporting center, chemical dependency or mental health treatment or counseling, restitution, fines, day-fines, community work service, work service in a restorative justice program, work in lieu of or to work off fines and, with the victim's consent, work in lieu of or to work off restitution. |
Condition or extension of supervision | 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.