50-State Criminal Justice Debt Reform Builder Bringing transparency to areas of significant legal complexity.
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
State
- Alabama (2)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (15)
- (-) Arkansas (12)
- California (6)
- Colorado (6)
- Connecticut (15)
- Delaware (7)
- Florida (33)
- Georgia (5)
- Hawaii (5)
- Idaho (3)
- Illinois (6)
- Indiana (7)
- Iowa (5)
- Kansas (7)
- Kentucky (4)
- Louisiana (14)
- (-) Maine (6)
- Maryland (0)
- Massachusetts (3)
- Michigan (5)
- Minnesota (2)
- Mississippi (7)
- Missouri (6)
- Montana (9)
- Nebraska (8)
- Nevada (7)
- New Hampshire (5)
- New Jersey (5)
- New Mexico (7)
- New York (7)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota (4)
- Ohio (4)
- Oklahoma (13)
- Oregon (1)
- Pennsylvania (6)
- Rhode Island (3)
- South Carolina (21)
- South Dakota (7)
- Tennessee (9)
- Texas (24)
- Utah (12)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (21)
- Washington (22)
- Washington DC (4)
- West Virginia (6)
- (-) Wisconsin (8)
- Wyoming (8)
Keyword search
Reset
Reset all filtersType of poverty penalty or poverty trap
- Civil judgment (0)
- Collection fee/interest (0)
- Community service (0)
- Condition or extension of supervision (4)
- Driver's license suspension/impoundment (3)
- Extension of probation/supervision (0)
- Incarceration (4)
- Increased fine (2)
- Other (1)
- Payment plan/installment plan (3)
- Property liens (5)
- Wage/bank account garnishment (3)
- Work program/jail industry program (1)
Narrrow results
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.
26 Results
| State | Statute | Description/Statute Name | Statutory language | Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap | Level of offense | Mandatory | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Arkansas | Ark. Code Ann. § 16-98-304(b) | Cost and Fees |
(1)The drug court judge shall establish a schedule for the payment of costs and fees. . . (7) Court orders for costs and fees shall remain an obligation of the offender with court monitoring until fully paid.
|
Payment plan/installment plan | All | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Arkansas | Ark. Code Ann. § 16-98-304(b) | Cost and Fees |
(b)(1) The drug court judge shall establish a schedule for the payment of costs and fees. . . (7) Court orders for costs and fees shall remain an obligation of the offender with court monitoring until fully paid
|
Condition or extension of supervision | All | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Arkansas | Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-204(a) | Collection After Default |
When a defendant sentenced to pay a fine or costs defaults in the payment of the fine or costs or of any installment, the fine or costs may be collected by any means authorized for the enforcement of a money judgment in a civil action.
|
Wage/bank account garnishment | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Arkansas | Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-204(a) | Collection After Default |
When a defendant sentenced to pay a fine or costs defaults in the payment of the fine or costs or of any installment, the fine or costs may be collected by any means authorized for the enforcement of a money judgment in a civil action.
|
Property liens | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Arkansas | Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-204(b) | Collection After Default |
A judgment that the defendant pay a fine or costs constitutes a lien on the real property and personal property of the defendant in the same manner and to the same extent as a money judgment in a civil action.
|
Property liens | All | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Arkansas | Ark. Code Ann. § 17-1-103(d)(1) | Registration, Certification, and Licensing for Criminal Offenders |
For the purposes of this section, completion of the following shall be deemed prima facie evidence of sufficient rehabilitation: (1) Probation or parole supervision. |
Driver's license suspension/impoundment | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Arkansas | Ark. Code Ann. § 16-17-131 | Suspension of License for Failure to Appear |
(a) A person required to appear before a district court in this state, having been served with any form of notice to appear for any criminal offense, traffic violation, or misdemeanor charge, shall appear at the time and place designated in the notice.
(b)(1) If a person fails to appear as required in subsection (a) of this section, the presiding judge may suspend the person's driver's license.(2) The license shall be suspended until the person appears and completes the sentence ordered by the court.(3) After the person satisfies all requirements of the sentence, the Department of Finance and Administration shall assess the current fees for reinstatement of a driver's license. |
Driver's license suspension/impoundment | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Arkansas | Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-202 | Alternative Sentence Prohibited -- Time of Payment |
(a) If the defendant is sentenced to pay a fine or costs, the court shall not at the same time impose an alternative sentence or imprisonment to be served if the fine or costs are not paid.
(b)(1) If a defendant is sentenced to pay a fine or costs, the court may grant permission for payment to be made:(A) Within a specified period of time; or(B) In specified installments.(2) If permission under subdivision (b)(1) of this section is not granted in the sentence, the fine or costs are payable immediately. |
Payment plan/installment plan | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Arkansas | Ark. Code Ann. § 16-92-104 | Costs and Fees -- Capital Cases |
The costs in all cases of conviction where the convict may be sentenced to suffer death, and all expenses attending the execution of the sentence, shall be adjudged and taxed by the court and paid out of the estate of the convict, and execution may be issued against the estate of the convict therefor.
|
Property liens | Felony | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Arkansas | Ark. Code Ann. § 16-92-102 | Costs and Fees -- Execution |
(a) The clerk of the court, at the end of each term, shall issue executions for all fines imposed on indictments, in penal actions, or otherwise, and for the costs of conviction in criminal cases during the term, and remaining unpaid, which shall be executed in the same manner as executions in civil cases. The property of the defendant may be seized and sold, notwithstanding that he or she may be in custody for the same demand.
(b) In every case where a witness is summoned by a special subpoena to testify in a particular case in which an indictment may be found, it shall be the duty of the clerk to tax the attendance of the witness with the cost of the suit, to be collected from the defendant, in the event that judgment shall be rendered against him or her therefor, and to be paid into the county treasury. |
Property liens | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Arkansas | Ark. Code Ann. § 16-92-101(a) | Costs and Fees -- Defendant's Property Bound From Time of Arrest |
The property, both real and personal, of any person charged with a criminal offense shall be bound from the time of his or her arrest or the finding of an indictment against him or her, whichever shall first happen, for the payment of all fines and costs which he or she may be adjudged to pay. However, no such lien shall be enforced unless the county judge of the county in which the judgment is rendered on the criminal charge shall file, or cause to be filed, with the circuit clerk of the county in which the person may own property, and within six (6) months after the rendition of judgment against the person, a notice of lis pendens as provided for in §§ 16-59-101 -- 16-59-105, 16-59-107, and 16-66-402 and shall cause suit to be instituted to enforce the lien within two (2) years after the date of the filing of the notice.
|
Property liens | All | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Arkansas | A.C.A. § 3-3-102 | Sentences and Fines |
(a) When a jail sentence is inflicted as part of the punishment, all persons convicted under this act shall serve out the sentence at hard labor; (b) All fines and costs assessed against any person under this act and not paid or replevied shall be served out by confinement at hard labor at the rate of one (1) day for each one dollar ($1.00) of the fine and costs.
|
Work program/jail industry program | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Maine | Me. Rev. Stat. tit 17-A § 1807(8) | Conditions of probation |
8. Condition of probation that includes staying within jurisdiction of court; application fee; use of fees. Whenever the court requires as a condition of probation that the person remain within the jurisdiction of the court, unless permission to leave temporarily is granted in writing by the person's probation officer, the Department of Corrections may impose on a person applying for such permission an application fee of $25. The department may impose on a person an additional fee of $25 per month if permission is sought and granted to leave the jurisdiction of the court on a periodic basis. Permission to leave may not be denied or withdrawn solely because the person is not able to pay the application fee or the additional fee. When a person fails to pay a fee imposed under this subsection, the department may refuse to process the application or may withdraw permission to leave if the failure to pay is attributable to the person's willful refusal to pay or to a failure on the person's part to make a good faith effort to obtain the funds required for the payment.
|
Condition or extension of supervision | Felony | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Maine | Me. Rev. Stat. tit 4 § 7 | General jurisdiction; control of records |
The Supreme Judicial Court may exercise its jurisdiction according to the common law not inconsistent with the Constitution or any statute, and may punish contempts against its authority by fine and imprisonment, or either, and administer oaths.
|
Incarceration | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Maine | Me. Rev. Stat. tit 4 § 7 | General jurisdiction; control of records |
The Supreme Judicial Court may exercise its jurisdiction according to the common law not inconsistent with the Constitution or any statute, and may punish contempts against its authority by fine and imprisonment, or either, and administer oaths.
|
Increased fine | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Maine | Me. Rev. Stat. tit 17-A § 1854(2)(A) | Requirements of administrative release |
2. Discretionary requirements. In addition to the requirements in subsection 1, the court in its sentence may require the person: A. To pay to the appropriate county an administrative supervision fee of not more than $50 per month, as determined by the court, for the term of the administrative release. In determining the amount of the fee, the court shall take into account the financial resources of the person and the nature of the burden its payment imposes. When a person fails to pay the administrative supervision fee, the court may revoke administrative release as provided in sections 1855 and 1856 unless the person shows that failure to pay was not attributable to a willful refusal to pay or to a failure on that person's part to make a good faith effort to obtain the funds required for the payment.
|
Incarceration | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Maine | Me. Rev. Stat. tit 17-A § 1753 | Electronic monitoring fee and substance testing fee as conditions of probation |
If a court imposes a sentencing alternative authorized under section 1502 that includes a period of probation, upon the request of the Department of Corrections, the court shall attach as a condition of probation an electronic monitoring fee, a substance testing fee or both, as governed by section 1807, subsection 7.
|
Condition or extension of supervision | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Maine | Me. Rev. Stat. tit 17-A § 1752 | Supervision fee as condition of probation |
If a court imposes a sentencing alternative authorized under section 1502 that includes a period of probation, it must attach as a condition of probation that the convicted individual pay, through the Department of Corrections, a supervision fee imposed pursuant to section 1807, subsection 6 for the term of probation.
|
Condition or extension of supervision | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Wisconsin | Wis. Stat. § 973.07 | Failure to pay fine, fees, surcharges, or costsor to comply with certain community service work. |
If the fine, plus costs, fees, and surcharges imposed under ch. 814, are not paid or community service work under s. 943.017 (3) is not completed as required by the + See moresentence, the defendant may be committed to the county jail until the fine, costs, fees, and surcharges are paid or discharged, or the community service work under s.943.017 (3) is completed, for a period fixed by the court not to
exceed 6 months.
|
Incarceration | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Wisconsin | Wis. Stat. § 973.05(4)(a) | Fines ("Judgment of unpaid amount by court") |
(4) If a defendant fails to pay the fine, surcharge, costs, or fees within the period specified under sub. (1) or (1m), the court may do any of the following:(a) + See moreIssue a judgment for the unpaid amount and direct the clerk to file and docket a transcript of the judgment, without fee. If the court issues a judgment for the unpaid amount, the court shall send
to the defendant at his or her last?known address written notification that a civil judgment has been issued for the unpaid fine, surcharge, costs, or fees. The judgment has the same force and effect as judgments docketed under s. 806.10.
|
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.