Criminal Justice Policy Program at Harvard Law School
50-State Criminal Justice Debt Reform Builder Bringing transparency to areas of significant legal complexity.
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.
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See all poverty penalty and poverty trap policy recommendations in CJPP’s Policy Guide
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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.
12 Results
| State | Statute | Description/Statute Name | Statutory language | Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap | Level of offense | Mandatory | |
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Delaware | 11 Del. C. § 4104(e) | Fines, Costs or Restitution; How Collected; Holding Operator's License as Security for Payment |
Whenever any person lawfully possessed of an operator's license theretofore issued to the person by the Division of Motor Vehicles of the Department of Transportation of the State, or under the laws of any other state or territory, or of the District of Columbia, shall be arrested and charged with any violation of the traffic or criminal laws of this State, or of any political subdivision thereof, a court, as a condition of sentencing, may take and hold, as security for the payment of any fine, costs, restitution or Victims Compensation Fund assessment, the operator's license so issued to the defendant.
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Driver's license suspension/impoundment | All | No |
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Delaware | 11 Del. C. § 4104(c) | Fines, Costs or Restitution; How Collected; Holding Operator's License as Security for Payment |
Any court may, in its discretion, direct any person sentenced to pay a fine or restitution upon conviction of a crime, who is employed within this State or by a Delaware resident or employer, to execute an assignment of a specified periodic sum not to exceed 1/3 of the person's total earnings, which assignment shall direct the person's employer to withhold and remit that amount to this State up to the total of the fine, costs and restitution imposed.
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Wage/bank account garnishment | All | No |
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Delaware | 11 Del. C. § 4104(a)(1)-(2) | Fines, Costs or Restitution; How Collected; Holding Operator's License as Security for Payment |
When a court imposes a fine, costs or restitution upon a defendant, the court or justice of the peace may direct as follows:(1) That the defendant pay the entire amount at the time sentence is imposed; (2) That the defendant pay a specified portion of the fine, costs or restitution at designated periodic intervals, and in such case may direct that the fine, costs or restitution be remitted to a probation officer who shall report to the court, at such periods as the court may direct, any failure to comply with the orders; or
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Payment plan/installment plan | All | No |
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Delaware | 11 Del. C. § 4104(a)(3) | Fines, Costs or Restitution; How Collected; Holding Operator's License as Security for Payment |
(a) When a court imposes a fine, costs or restitution upon a defendant, the court or justice of the peace may direct as follows: . . . (3) Where the defendant is sentenced to a period of probation as well as fine, costs or restitution that payment of the fines, costs or restitution shall be a condition of the probation.
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Condition or extension of supervision | All | Yes |
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Delaware | 11 Del. C. § 4105(b)(1) | Default in Payment of Fine; Inability to Pay |
Where a person sentenced to pay a fine, costs, restitution or all 3, on conviction of a crime is unable or fails to pay such fine, costs, restitution or all 3, at the time of imposition of sentence or in accordance with the terms of payment set by the court, the court may order the person to report at any time to the Commissioner of the Department of Correction, or a person designated by the Commissioner, for work for a number and schedule of hours necessary to discharge the fine, costs or restitution imposed.
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Work program/jail industry program | All | No |
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Delaware | 11 Del. C. § 4105(d) | Default in Payment of Fine; Inability to Pay |
Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, where a defendant sentenced to be imprisoned is ordered to pay a fine, costs, restitution or all 3, the court may order an additional sentence of imprisonment in lieu of requiring the payment of the fine, costs, restitution or all 3; provided, however, that this additional sentence of imprisonment may not exceed 30 days, to be served concurrently or consecutively with the sentence originally imposed, as the court may order.
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Incarceration | All | No |
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Delaware | 21 Del. C. § 2732(b) | Mandatory Revocation or Suspension of License or Refusal to Renew or Issue a Duplicate License |
Upon receiving a record of the failure of a convicted person to pay a fine, costs or both as described in § 2731(b) of this title, or to timely complete a course of instruction pursuant to § 4175A or § 4177D of this title, the Department or its successor, shall: (1) If the convicted person is a resident of this State, forthwith suspend the convicted person's license until the fine, costs or both have been paid, or the court finds that the person has completed the necessary course of instruction and paid all applicable fees; and (2) If the convicted person is a nonresident of this State, forthwith suspend the convicted person's driving privileges in this State and immediately advise the Motor Vehicle Administrator of the state wherein the convicted person is a resident that the convicted person has failed to pay a fine, costs or both, or to timely complete a course of instruction pursuant to § 4175A or § 4177D of this title, and requesting that the convicted person's license to drive be suspended until the fine, costs or both have been paid, or the court finds that the person has completed the necessary course of instruction and paid all applicable fees.
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Driver's license suspension/impoundment | All | Yes |
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Michigan | Mich. Comp. Laws § 769.3(2) | Conditional sentence - installments |
(2) Except for a person who is convicted of criminal sexual conduct in the first or third degree, the court may also place the offender on probation with the condition + See morethat the offender pay a fine, costs, damages, restitution, or any combination in installments with any limited time and may, upon default in any of those payments, impose sentence as provided by law.
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Payment plan/installment plan | All | No |
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Michigan | Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.4803 | Failure to pay as subject to late penalty |
A person who fails to pay a penalty, fee, or costs in full within 56 days after that amount is due and owing is subject to a late penalty equal + See moreto 20% of the amount owed. The court shall inform a person subject to a penalty, fee, or costs that the late penalty will be applied to any amount that continues to be unpaid 56 days after the amount is due and owing. . . . A late penalty may be waived by the court upon the request of the person subject to the late penalty.
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Collection fee/interest | All | No |
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Michigan | Mich. Comp. Laws § 12.136 | Collection Services to the Courts: Offsetting tax refunds or other payments; order of priority |
The department, pursuant to its statutory and common law authority, may offset tax refunds or other payments due from the state to a person who owes a debt to a + See morecourt that would be collectible under an agreement described in this act.
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Wage/bank account garnishment | All | No |
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Michigan | Mich. Comp. Laws § 771.3(2) | Restitution by defendant convicted of misdemeanor |
As a condition of probation, the court may require the probationer to do 1 or more of the following: . . . (b) Pay immediately or within the period of + See morehis or her probation a fine imposed when placed on probation. (c) Pay costs pursuant to subsection (5). (d) Pay any assessment ordered by the court other than an assessment described in subsection (1)(f). . . . (f) Agree to pay by wage assignment any restitution, assessment, fine, or cost imposed by the court.
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Wage/bank account garnishment | All | No |
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Michigan | Mich. Comp. Laws § 257.907(11) | Restitution by defendant convicted of misdemeanor |
If a person fails to comply with an order or judgment issued under this section within the time prescribed by the court, the driver's license of that person shall be + See moresuspended under section 321a until full compliance with that order or judgment occurs. In addition to this suspension, the court may also proceed under section 908.
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Driver's license suspension/impoundment | All | Yes |
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For more information, please visit cjpp.law.harvard.edu.