Poverty Penalties and Poverty Traps

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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.

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State Statute Description/Statute Name Statutory language Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap Level of offense Mandatory
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Connecticut Conn. Gen. Stat. § 18-50(a)(2) Credit against unpaid fine for time spent in confinement, employed or performing community service

(2) Each person committed to any community correctional center upon conviction of any criminal offense, and held therein only for the payment of a fine, may be released from confinement

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by the Commissioner of Correction and, with the agreement of the Court Support Services Division within the Judicial Department, be transferred to said division subject to the requirement that such person perform community service under the supervision of said division until the period of community service performed by such person at the rate of fifty dollars a day amounts to such fine or the balance thereof remaining unpaid. Any person so transferred shall remain under the jurisdiction of the commissioner. Such person shall be discharged from the jurisdiction of the commissioner when such person completes the period of community service required to be performed when computed in accordance with this subdivision or immediately upon payment of the fine in full. If, at any time during such person’s release from confinement pursuant to this subdivision, the commissioner determines that the conduct of such person is unsuitable for continuation in such program of community service, such person may be returned to confinement.

Community service All No
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Connecticut Conn. Gen. Stat. § 18-85(b) Compensation of inmates. Deposit in account. Disbursement priorities.

(b) Compensation so earned shall be deposited, under the direction of the Commissioner of Correction, in an account in a savings bank or state bank and trust company in this

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state or an account administered by the State Treasurer. Any compensation so earned shall be paid to the inmate on the inmate’s release from incarceration, except that the commissioner may, while the inmate is in custody, disburse any compensation earned by such inmate in accordance with the following priorities: (1) Federal taxes due; (2) restitution or payment of compensation to a crime victim ordered by any court of competent jurisdiction; (3) payment of a civil judgment rendered in favor of a crime victim by any court of competent jurisdiction; (4) victims compensation through the criminal injuries account administered by the Office of Victim Services; (5) state taxes due; (6) support of the inmate’s dependents, if any; (7) the inmate’s necessary travel expense to and from work and other incidental expenses; (8) deposits credited to the inmate’s discharge savings account under section 18-84a; (9) costs of such inmate’s incarceration under section 18-85a and regulations adopted in accordance with said section; and (10) payment to the clerk of the court in which an inmate, confined in a correctional facility only for payment of a fine, was convicted, such portion of such compensation as is necessary to pay such fine.

Wage/bank account garnishment All No
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Connecticut Conn. Gen. Stat. § 18-101(b) Disposition of Inmate Compensation

(b) On granting privileges to any inmate under section 18-100, the commissioner or the commissioner's designee shall disburse any compensation earned by such inmate in accordance with the following priorities:

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(1) Federal taxes due; (2) restitution or payment of compensation to a crime victim ordered by any court of competent jurisdiction; (3) payment of a civil judgment rendered in favor of a crime victim by any court of competent jurisdiction; (4) victims compensation through the criminal injuries account administered by the Office of Victim Services; (5) state taxes due; (6) support of such inmate's dependents, if any; (7) such inmate's necessary travel expense to and from work and other incidental expenses; (8) deposits credited to the inmate's discharge savings account under section 18-84a; and (9) costs of such inmate's incarceration under section 18-85a and regulations adopted in accordance with said section

Wage/bank account garnishment All Yes
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Connecticut Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-361a Execution on wages after judgment.

(a) Application. If a judgment debtor fails to comply with an installment payment order, the judgment creditor may apply to the court for a wage execution. The application shall contain

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the judgment creditor's or the judgment creditor's attorney's statement setting forth the particulars of the installment payment order and of the judgment debtor's failure to comply. The application shall be accompanied by a fee of one hundred dollars payable to the clerk of the court for the administrative costs of complying with the provisions of this section which fee may be recoverable by the judgment creditor as a taxable cost of the action.

Wage/bank account garnishment All No
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Kentucky Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 431.100
Withholding of money payable by Commonwealth to defendant in satisfaction of money judgment in criminal proceeding; fines and forfeitures go to Commonwealth; disposition of fines from offenses relating to alcohol
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and to criminal littering; monetary . . .

When a money judgment is entered against a defendant in a criminal proceeding and each sum, or any part thereof, remains unpaid, there shall be withheld from any disbursement, payment, benefit,

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compensation, salary, or other transfer of money from the Commonwealth of Kentucky to such defendant an amount equal to the unpaid amount of the judgment. Under no circumstances shall the general fund be used to reimburse court costs or pay for judgment.

Wage/bank account garnishment All Yes
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Kentucky Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 532.160(1) Criminal garnishment

(1) If a convicted person is unable to pay all court costs, fees, fines, and other monetary penalties at the time of sentencing, then the sentencing court may, consistent with

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KRS 23A.205, 24A.175, 534.020, and KRS 534.060, issue a criminal garnishment order for all fines under KRS Chapter 534 or KRS 49.480 and for court costs, restitution, and reimbursement charges in this chapter.

Wage/bank account garnishment All No
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Missouri Mo. Ann. Stat. § 558.006 Response to nonpayment

When an offender sentenced to pay a fine defaults in the payment of the fine or in any installment, the fine or installment shall be collected by any means authorized for the enforcement

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collection of money judgments, other than a lien against real estate, or may be waived at the discretion of the sentencing judge.

Other, Wage/bank account garnishment All No
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Missouri Mo. Rev. Stat. § 488.020(3)-(4) Collection of court costs, when, how

The supreme court may provide by rule for imposition of interest on any court costs not paid within thirty days of when due. If any court cost is not paid

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when due, the following actions may be taken:

(3) Upon notification to the party from whom the court cost is due, and upon failure to pay the fee after such notice, the court may inform the office of administration of any delinquencies in excess of twenty-five dollars. Upon receiving such notice, and without further notice by the office of administration to the defaulting party, the office of administration shall deduct the amount of unpaid court costs from any payment by the state to the defaulting party under any provision of law. The office of administration shall transmit the amount set off to the court, and shall send the excess amount to the payee, with a notice that the remainder of the refund was transmitted to the court in satisfaction of all or part of the unpaid court costs. The office of administration and its officials and employees shall not be liable to any person for any action taken in accordance with the requirements of this subdivision. Any proceeding contesting any action taken by a court or the office of administration pursuant to this subdivision shall be brought in the court which certified such unpaid fees to the office of administration, and shall be deemed ancillary to the proceeding for which such unpaid fees were assessed. No appearance, responsive pleading or discovery shall be due from the office of administration in such proceeding except upon order of the court;

(4) Upon notification to the party from whom the fee is due, a failure to pay the fee after such notice, and a showing of the party's ability to pay the fee, the court may hold the party in contempt.

 

Collection fee/interest, Incarceration, Increased fine, Other, Wage/bank account garnishment All No
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Missouri Mo. Rev. Stat. § 488.5028(1)-(3) Court cost delinquencies, income tax setoff may be requested, procedure

1. If a person fails to pay court costs, fines, fees, or other sums ordered by a court, to be paid to the state or political subdivision, a court may report

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any such delinquencies in excess of twenty-five dollars to the office of state courts administrator and request that the state courts administrator seek a setoff of an income tax refund. The state courts administrator shall set guidelines necessary to effectuate the purpose of the offset program. The office of state courts administrator also shall seek a setoff of any income tax refund and lottery prize payouts made to a person whose name has been reported to the office as being delinquent pursuant to section 221.070.

2. The office of state courts administrator shall provide to: (1) The department of revenue, the information necessary to identify each debtor whose refund is sought to be set off and the amount of the debt or debts owed by any debtor who is entitled to a tax refund in excess of twenty-five dollars and any debtor under section 221.070 who is entitled to a tax refund of any amount; and (2) The state lottery commission, the information necessary to identify each debtor whose lottery prize payouts are sought to be set off and the amount of the debt or debts owed by the debtor under section 221.070.

3. The department of revenue shall notify the office of state courts administrator that a refund has been set off, and the state lottery commission shall notify the office when a lottery prize payout has been set off, on behalf of a court. The department or commission shall certify the amount of such setoff, which shall not exceed the amount of the claimed debt certified. When the refund owed or lottery prize payouts exceed the claimed debt, the department of revenue when a refund is set off, or the state lottery commission when lottery prizes are set off, shall send the excess amount to the debtor within a reasonable time after such excess is determined.

Other, Wage/bank account garnishment All No
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Missouri Mo. Ann. Stat. § 558.006(5) Response to nonpayment

Upon default in the payment of a fine or any installment thereof, the fine may be collected by any means authorized for the enforcement of money judgments.

Incarceration, Property liens, Wage/bank account garnishment All No
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Pennsylvania 42 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 9728(b)(5) Collection - procedure
The county correctional facility to which the offender has been sentenced or the Department of Corrections shall be authorized to make monetary deductions from inmate personal accounts for the purpose
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of collecting restitution or any other court-ordered obligation or costs imposed 
Wage/bank account garnishment All No
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Pennsylvania 42 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 9730 Failure to pay court costs, restitution and fines
(b) Procedures regarding default.-- . . . (3) If the issuing authority, senior judge or senior magisterial district judge determines that the defendant is without the financial means to pay
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the fine or costs immediately or in a single remittance, the issuing authority, senior judge or senior magisterial district judge may provide for payment in installments. In determining the appropriate installments, the issuing authority, senior judge or senior magisterial district judge shall consider the defendant's financial resources, the defendant's ability to make restitution and reparations and the nature of the burden the payment will impose on the defendant. If the defendant is in default of a payment or advises the issuing authority, senior judge or senior magisterial district judge that default is imminent, the issuing authority, senior judge or senior magisterial district judge may schedule a rehearing on the payment schedule. At the rehearing the defendant has the burden of proving changes of financial condition such that the defendant is without the means to meet the payment schedule. The issuing authority, senior judge or senior magisterial district judge may extend or accelerate the schedule, leave it unaltered or sentence the defendant to a period of community service as the issuing authority, senior judge or senior magisterial district judge finds to be just and practicable under the circumstances.
Community service All No