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.

14 Results

Export results to Excel

State Statute Description/Statute Name Statutory language Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap Level of offense Mandatory
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

California Cal. Pen. Code § 273a(c)(3)(B) Endangering child or causing or permitting child to suffer physical pain, mental suffering, or injury; Conditions of probation

(B) The terms of probation for offenders shall not be lifted until all reasonable fees due to the counseling program have been paid in full, but in no case shall

+ See more
probation be extended beyond the term provided in subdivision (a) of Section 1203.1. If the court finds that the defendant does not have the ability to pay the fees based on the defendant’s changed circumstances, the court may reduce or waive the fees.

Condition or extension of supervision Misdemeanor, Felony No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Montana Mont. Code Ann. § 46-18-244(6) Type and time of payment--defenses--ensuring payment
For a felony offense: (a) during any period that the offender is incarcerated, the department of corrections shall take a percentage, as set by department rule, of any money in
+ See more
any account of the defendant administered by the department and use the money to satisfy any existing restitution obligation; (b) at the beginning of any period during which the offender is not incarcerated, the offender shall sign a statement allowing any employer of the offender to garnish up to 25% of the offender's compensation and give the garnished amounts to the department of corrections to be used by the department to satisfy any existing restitution obligation; and (c) during any period that the defendant is on probation or parole, the probation and parole officer shall set a monthly restitution payment amount by dividing the total amount of unpaid restitution by the number of remaining months of probation or parole. The probation and parole officer may adjust the monthly payment up or down by a maximum of 10%, depending on the offender's circumstances.
Wage/bank account garnishment All Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Montana Mont. Code Ann. § 46-18-244(7) Type and time of payment--defenses--ensuring payment
The department of corrections shall give the department of revenue a copy of the order to pay restitution. If full restitution has not been paid, the department of revenue shall,
+ See more
pursuant to an agreement made under 46-18-241, intercept any state tax refunds and any federal tax refunds, as provided by law, due the offender and transfer the money to the department of corrections for a felony offense and to the sentencing court for a misdemeanor offense for disbursement to the victim.
Wage/bank account garnishment All Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Montana Mont. Code Ann. § 46-18-237 Garnishment--report by supervising authority
(1) If the department of corrections becomes aware that a person while incarcerated under the legal custody of the department of corrections or a person supervised by the department is
+ See more
entitled to receive money from any source, the person's supervising authority may prepare a report... (2) The supervising authority shall provide notice and a copy of the report to the office of victims services in the department of justice and the county attorney for the county in which the person was sentenced, either of whom may submit the report along with a petition for garnishment to the court that sentenced the person. The court may order garnishment of the person's money for the payment of restitution, child support, and per diem costs of incarceration owed by the person. Upon receipt of the petition, the court shall provide a copy of the report to the person, who has 15 days following receipt to file an objection. The court may hold a hearing to consider objections raised by the person. (3) Upon compliance with the provisions of subsections (1) and (2), the court shall determine the amount of restitution, child support, and repayment for per diem costs owed by the person. The court shall order, up to the amount of money available, payment of an amount equal to the restitution owed by the person to the person designated under 46-18-245 to supervise the making of restitution payments, any outstanding child support payments to the department of public health and human services for disbursement to the obligee, and per diem costs owed by the person. All restitution owed by the person must be paid prior to payment of any child support payments. All child support owed by the person must be paid prior to the payment of any per diem costs.
Wage/bank account garnishment All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Montana Mont. Code Ann. § 46-18-244(6) Type and time of payment--defenses--ensuring payment
(a) during any period that the offender is incarcerated, the department of corrections shall take a percentage, as set by department rule, of any money in any account of the
+ See more
defendant administered by the department and use the money to satisfy any existing restitution obligation; (b) at the beginning of any period during which the offender is not incarcerated, the offender shall sign a statement allowing any employer of the offender to garnish up to 25% of the offender's compensation and give the garnished amounts to the department of corrections to be used by the department to satisfy any existing restitution obligation; and (c) during any period that the defendant is on probation or parole, the probation and parole officer shall set a monthly restitution payment amount by dividing the total amount of unpaid restitution by the number of remaining months of probation or parole. The probation and parole officer may adjust the monthly payment up or down by a maximum of 10%, depending on the offender's circumstances.
Wage/bank account garnishment Felony Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Montana Mont. Code Ann. § 46-18-244(7) Type and time of payment--defenses--ensuring payment
The department of corrections shall give the department of revenue a copy of the order to pay restitution. If full restitution has not been paid, the department of revenue shall,
+ See more
pursuant to an agreement made under 46-18-241, intercept any state tax refunds and any federal tax refunds, as provided by law, due the offender and transfer the money to the department of corrections for a felony offense and to the sentencing court for a misdemeanor offense for disbursement to the victim.
Wage/bank account garnishment All Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Wyoming Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-18-114 Record and disbursement of wages; exemption from process; confidentiality of amount

(a) Wages earned by an inmate, parolee or offender while in an adult community corrections program shall be retained and accounted for by the program operator and shall be disbursed

+ See more
for the purposes provided in this subsection and in the order specified: (i) Personal necessities; (ii) Room and board to the program operator at a rate to be established by the department; (iii) Support of dependent relations; (iv) Court ordered restitution, fines, sanctions and reimbursement for the services of public defender or court appointed counsel, the surcharge imposed under W.S. 1-40-119, victims compensation obligations under W.S. 1-40-112(g) and the surcharge imposed under W.S. 7-13-1616; (v) Repealed by Laws 1999, ch. 62, § 2. (vi) Costs of health insurance; and (vii) Remaining funds shall be paid to the inmate, parolee or offender upon parole or final discharge.

(b) Wages earned by offenders, other than parolees or inmates, while in a residential adult community corrections program shall be retained and accounted for by the program operator and shall be disbursed only for the purposes and in the order specified in subsection (a) of this section unless otherwise ordered by the sentencing court. Any remaining funds shall be paid to the offender upon his satisfactory discharge from the program. Upon revocation of an offender's probation, the program operator shall forward any remaining funds to the court or to the institution to which the offender is sentenced as directed by the court.

(c) Program operators shall keep an accurate record and account of all wages earned by inmates, parolees and offenders pursuant to the rules promulgated by the department.

(d) The earnings of inmates under this act are not subject to garnishment, attachment or execution.

(e) Information relating to the amount of wages earned by an inmate, parolee or offender in an adult community corrections program is confidential and is not subject to public inspection.

Wage/bank account garnishment All Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Wyoming Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-16-101 Persons subject to required work

(a) The sentencing court may require the following persons to perform work pursuant to W.S. 7-16-101 through 7-16-104: (i) Persons sentenced to a definite term of imprisonment in the county jail,

+ See more
whether or not a fine is imposed as a part of the sentence; (ii) Persons committed to jail pursuant to W.S. 6-10-105 for refusal to pay a fine or costs; and (iii) Persons for whom work is imposed as a condition of probation pursuant to W.S. 7-13-304(b). (b) No person charged with a crime and awaiting the action of the grand jury or awaiting trial shall be required to perform work pursuant to W.S. 7-16-101 through 7-16-104.

Condition or extension of supervision, Work program/jail industry program All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Wyoming Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-13-421 Restitution as condition of parole

(b) The board shall provide for restitution in the amount determined by the court pursuant to W.S. 7-9-103 unless the board finds the parolee is not reasonably capable of making the payments,

+ See more
in which case the board may modify the amount of restitution to be paid, taking into account the factors enumerated in W.S. 7-9-106.

(c) If the parolee fails to pay the restitution as provided by this section the board may: (i) Modify the amount of the restitution; (ii) Repealed By Laws 2011, Ch. 30, § 2. (iii) Revoke the parole.

Condition or extension of supervision, Payment plan/installment plan All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Wyoming Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-13-109(b),(c) Payment of jail costs by inmate

(b) An order to pay room and board costs under this section shall be included as a special order in the judgment of conviction. To satisfy the order, the clerk

+ See more
of the sentencing court, upon request of the sheriff or prosecuting attorney, may issue execution against any assets of the defendant including wages subject to attachment, in the same manner as in a civil action.

(c) Willful failure or refusal to pay costs ordered under this section is punishable as contempt of court.

Incarceration, Property liens, Wage/bank account garnishment All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Wyoming Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-16-204 Fines for misconduct

The department of corrections shall adopt rules and regulations to establish a system for punishing prisoner misconduct through the imposition of fines to be deducted from compensation earned as provided

+ See more
by W.S. 7-16-203. The rules shall provide for the distribution of the proceeds of fines collected under this section as special aid to discharged or paroled prisoners who are infirm or in any way incapable of earning a sufficient subsistence after their release.

Wage/bank account garnishment All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Wyoming Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-9-104 Preparation of plan; contents

(a) In any case in which the court has ordered restitution under W.S. 7-9-102, 7-9-113 or 7-13-301, if the sentencing court orders suspended imposition of sentence, suspended sentence or probation,

+ See more
the court shall require that the defendant in cooperation with the probation and parole officer assigned to the defendant, or in the case of unsupervised probation any probation and parole officer or any other person the court directs, promptly prepare a plan of restitution including the name and address of each victim, the amount of restitution determined to be owed to each victim pursuant to W.S. 7-9-103 or 7-9-114 and a schedule of restitution payments. If the defendant is presently unable to make any restitution but there is a reasonable possibility that the defendant may be able to do so at some time during his probation period, the plan of restitution shall also state the conditions under which or the event after which the defendant shall make restitution. In structuring a plan for reimbursement under this section, victim restitution shall be paid in the following order:
(i) Pecuniary damages suffered by the victim which have not been paid by insurance or from the crime victim's compensation account;
(ii) Payment of other amounts owed by the defendant arising from the case.

Condition or extension of supervision, Payment plan/installment plan All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Wyoming Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-9-108(a) Compliance with plan as condition of probation or suspension; payments to clerk

(a) Compliance with the plan of restitution as approved or modified by the court shall be a condition of the defendant's probation or suspension.

Condition or extension of supervision All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Wyoming Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-13-301(a)(v),(c) Placing person found guilty, but not convicted, on probation

(a) If a person who has not previously been convicted of any felony is charged with or is found guilty of or pleads guilty or no contest to any misdemeanor

+ See more
except any second or subsequent violation of W.S. 31-5-233 or any similar provision of law, or any second or subsequent violation of W.S. 6-2-510(a) or 6-2-511(a) or any similar provision of law, or any felony except murder, sexual assault in the first or second degree, aggravated assault and battery or arson in the first or second degree, the court may, with the consent of the defendant and the state and without entering a judgment of guilt or conviction, defer further proceedings and place the person on probation for a term not to exceed thirty-six (36) months upon terms and conditions set by the court. The terms of probation shall include that he: (v) Pay restitution to each victim in accordance with W.S. 7-9-101 and 7-9-103 through 7-9-115.
(c) If the defendant violates a term or condition of probation at any time before final discharge, the court may:
(i) Enter an adjudication of guilt and conviction and proceed to impose sentence upon the defendant if he previously pled guilty to or was found guilty of the original charge for which probation was granted under this section; or
(ii) Order that the trial of the original charge proceed if the defendant has not previously pled or been found guilty.

Condition or extension of supervision, Incarceration All No