Data Explorer: Enforcement Mechanisms | 50 State Criminal Justice Debt Tool

Poverty Penalties and Poverty Traps

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.

9 Results

Export results to Excel

	State	Statute	Description/Statute Name	Statutory language	Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap	Level of offense	Mandatory
Add to Dashboard + Create New	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 + See more 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.	Driver's license suspension/impoundment	Traffic	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	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 + See more or more in delinquent traffic fines for moving violations committed within the municipality.	Driver's license suspension/impoundment	Traffic	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	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 + See more a person against whom the judgment is given except as otherwise provided in this chapter.	Driver's license suspension/impoundment	Traffic	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	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 + See more 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.	Driver's license suspension/impoundment	Traffic	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Florida	Fla. Stat. §984.09(4)(d)	Punishment for contempt of court; alternative sanctions	In addition to any other sanction imposed under this section, the court may direct the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to withhold issuance of, or suspend, a child's + See more driver license or driving privilege. The court may order that a child's driver license or driving privilege be withheld or suspended for up to 1 year for a first offense of contempt and up to 2 years for a second or subsequent offense. If the child's driver license or driving privilege is suspended or revoked for any reason at the time the sanction for contempt is imposed, the court shall extend the period of suspension or revocation by the additional period ordered under this paragraph. If the child's driver license is being withheld at the time the sanction for contempt is imposed, the period of suspension or revocation ordered under this paragraph shall begin on the date on which the child is otherwise eligible to drive. For a child in need of services whose driver license or driving privilege is suspended under this paragraph, the court may direct the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to issue the child a license for driving privileges restricted to business or employment purposes only, as defined in s. 322.271, or for the purpose of completing court-ordered community service, if the child is otherwise qualified for a license. However, the department may not issue a restricted license unless specifically ordered to do so by the court.	Driver's license suspension/impoundment	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Florida	Fla. Stat. Ann. § 322.245(1)	Suspension of license upon failure of person charged with specified offense	(1) If a person charged with a violation of any of the criminal offenses enumerated in s. 318.17 or with the commission of any offense constituting a misdemeanor under chapter + See more 320 or this chapter fails to comply with all of the directives of the court within the time allotted by the court, the clerk of the traffic court shall mail to the person, at the address specified on the uniform traffic citation, a notice of such failure, notifying him or her that, if he or she does not comply with the directives of the court within 30 days after the date of the notice and pay a delinquency fee of up to $25 to the clerk, from which the clerk shall remit $10 to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue Fund, his or her driver license will be suspended. The notice shall be mailed no later than 5 days after such failure. The delinquency fee may be retained by the office of the clerk to defray the operating costs of the office.	Driver's license suspension/impoundment	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Florida	Fla. Stat. §322.245(2)	Suspension of license upon failure of person charged with specified offense	(2) In non-IV-D cases, if a person fails to pay child support under chapter 61 and the obligee so requests, the depository or the clerk of the court shall mail in + See more accordance with s. 61.13016 the notice specified in that section, notifying him or her that if he or she does not comply with the requirements of that section and pay a delinquency fee of $25 to the depository or the clerk, his or her driver license and motor vehicle registration will be suspended. The delinquency fee may be retained by the depository or the office of the clerk to defray the operating costs of the office after the clerk remits $15 to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue Fund.	Driver's license suspension/impoundment	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Florida	Fla. Stat. §322.245(5)(a)	Suspension of license upon failure of person charged with specified offense	When the department receives notice from a clerk of the court that a person licensed to operate a motor vehicle in this state under the provisions of this chapter has + See more failed to pay financial obligations for any criminal offense other than those specified in subsection (1), in full or in part under a payment plan pursuant to s. 28.246(4), the department shall suspend the license of the person named in the notice.	Driver's license suspension/impoundment	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Oklahoma	22 Okl.St.Ann. § 983C	Imprisonment or recommendation of suspension of driving privileges for failure to pay fines, costs, fees, or assessments--Hearing--Installments	In addition, the district court or municipal court, within one hundred twenty (120) days from the date upon which the person was originally ordered to make payment, may send notice + See more of nonpayment of any court ordered fine and costs for a moving traffic violation to the Department of Public Safety with a recommendation of suspension of driving privileges of the defendant until the total amount of any fine and costs has been paid. Upon receipt of payment of the total amount of the fine and costs for the moving traffic violation, the court shall send notice thereof to the Department, if a nonpayment notice was sent as provided for in this subsection. Notices sent to the Department shall be on forms or by a method approved by the Department.	Driver's license suspension/impoundment	Traffic	No

Poverty Penalties and Poverty Traps

Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap

Mandatory

Narrrow results

Level of Offense

Poverty Penalties and Poverty Traps

State

Keyword search

Reset

Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap

Mandatory

Narrrow results

Level of Offense