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 (0)
- Alaska (5)
- Arizona (8)
- Arkansas (9)
- California (5)
- Colorado (3)
- Connecticut (8)
- (-) Delaware (3)
- (-) Florida (22)
- Georgia (0)
- Hawaii (0)
- (-) Idaho (1)
- Illinois (2)
- Indiana (3)
- Iowa (2)
- Kansas (3)
- Kentucky (2)
- Louisiana (4)
- Maine (2)
- Maryland (2)
- Massachusetts (2)
- Michigan (8)
- Minnesota (1)
- Mississippi (2)
- Missouri (5)
- Montana (4)
- Nebraska (2)
- Nevada (3)
- New Hampshire (6)
- New Jersey (4)
- New Mexico (5)
- New York (4)
- North Carolina (5)
- North Dakota (8)
- Ohio (10)
- Oklahoma (3)
- Oregon (6)
- Pennsylvania (5)
- Rhode Island (0)
- South Carolina (15)
- (-) South Dakota (4)
- Tennessee (3)
- Texas (4)
- Utah (8)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (5)
- Washington (14)
- Washington DC (2)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (2)
- (-) Wyoming (7)
Keyword search
Reset
Reset all filtersType of poverty penalty or poverty trap
- Civil judgment (4)
- Collection fee/interest (10)
- Community service (7)
- Condition or extension of supervision (29)
- Driver's license suspension/impoundment (11)
- Extension of probation/supervision (1)
- Incarceration (30)
- Increased fine (11)
- Other (3)
- (-) Payment plan/installment plan (20)
- (-) Property liens (17)
- Wage/bank account garnishment (14)
- Work program/jail industry program (5)
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.
37 Results
| State | Statute | Description/Statute Name | Statutory language | Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap | Level of offense | Mandatory | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Delaware | 10 Del. C. § 8602(a) | Conditions of Payment |
When the court determines that a defendant must pay the costs of defense, the court may grant permission for payment to be made within a specified period of time or in specified installments. If no such permission is granted, the full amount shall be payable forthwith.
|
Payment plan/installment plan | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
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
|
Payment plan/installment plan | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Delaware | 11 Del. C. § 4104(b) | Fines, Costs or Restitution; How Collected; Holding Operator's License as Security for Payment |
The bond shall contain a warrant of attorney authorizing the Prothonotary or any attorney of record in this State or elsewhere to appear in any court, including a justice of the peace, and confess judgment against the person so bound. Upon execution of the bond the convicted person shall be required to list on the reverse thereof all motor vehicles and real property owned by the person or in which the person has any title or interest with a description and the location thereof.
|
Property liens | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §948.09(6) | Payment for cost of supervision and other monetary obligations |
The department shall establish a payment plan for all costs ordered by the courts for collection by the department and a priority order for payments, except that victim restitution payments authorized under s. 948.03(1)(f) take precedence over all other court-ordered payments. The department is not required to disburse cumulative amounts of less than $10 to individual payees established on this payment plan.
|
Payment plan/installment plan | All | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §938.30(5)-(9) | Financial obligations in criminal cases; supplementary proceedings |
(5) The court may order that any nonexempt property of the person which is in the hands of another be applied toward satisfying the obligation. (6) If judgment has not been previously entered on any court-imposed financial obligation, the court may enter judgment thereon and issue any writ necessary to enforce the judgment in the manner allowed in civil cases. Any judgment issued under this section constitutes a civil lien against the judgment debtor’s presently owned or after-acquired property, when recorded pursuant to s. 55.10. Supplementary proceedings undertaken by any governmental entity to satisfy a judgment imposed pursuant to this section may proceed without bond and without the payment of statutory fees associated with judgment enforcement.
(7) Provisions of the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act apply to collection matters under this section and may be used to collect any court-imposed financial obligation subject to this section. (8) If a criminal or civil judgment has previously been entered on a court-imposed financial obligation, the judgment constitutes a civil lien against the judgment debtor’s presently owned or after-acquired real or personal property when recorded pursuant to s. 55.10, except that a judgment on a court-imposed financial obligation is not subject to the 10-year rerecording requirement of s. 55.10. The judgment must secure all unpaid court-imposed financial obligations that are due and may accrue subsequent to the recording of the judgment, as well as interest and reasonable costs for issuing a satisfaction and recording the satisfaction in the official records. (9) The clerk of the court shall enforce, satisfy, compromise, settle, subordinate, release, or otherwise dispose of any debts or liens imposed and collected under this section in the same manner as prescribed in s. 938.29(3). |
Property liens | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §938.30(10) | Financial obligations in criminal cases; supplementary proceedings |
In lieu of examining the person, or in addition thereto, the court may order the person to comply with a payment schedule to satisfy the obligation. |
Payment plan/installment plan | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §938.30(11) | Financial obligations in criminal cases; supplementary proceedings |
Any person failing to appear or willfully failing to comply with an order under this section, including an order to comply with a payment schedule established by the clerk of court, may be held in civil contempt.
|
Payment plan/installment plan | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §960.292 | Enforcement of the civil restitution lien through civil restitution lien order |
The civil restitution lien shall be made enforceable by means of a civil restitution lien order. (1) Upon conviction, the convicted offender shall incur civil liability for damages and losses to crime victims, the state, its local subdivisions, and aggrieved parties as set forth in s. 960.293. The conviction shall estop the convicted offender from denying the essential allegations of that offense in any subsequent proceedings. (2) Upon motion by the state, upon petition of the local subdivision, crime victim, or aggrieved party, or on its own motion, the court in which the convicted offender is convicted shall enter civil restitution lien orders in favor of crime victims, the state, its local subdivisions, and other aggrieved parties. The court shall retain continuing jurisdiction over the convicted offender for the sole purpose of entering civil restitution lien orders for the duration of the sentence and up to 5 years from release from incarceration or supervision, whichever occurs later. (3) The court shall enter separate civil restitution lien orders as appropriate in favor of the crime victims, the state, its local subdivisions, or aggrieved parties. The civil restitution lien order shall include the name of the convicted offender, the case number assigned to the applicable criminal case, and the names and social security numbers of the crime victim, state, its local subdivisions, or aggrieved parties, as appropriate.
|
Property liens | All | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §938.29(2) | Legal assistance; lien for payment of attorney's fees or costs |
(2)(a) There is created in the name of the state a lien, enforceable as hereinafter provided, upon all the property, both real and personal, of any person who: 1. Has received any assistance from any public defender of the state, from any special assistant public defender, from any office of criminal conflict and civil regional counsel, or from any private conflict attorney, or who has received due process services after being found indigent for costs; or 2. Is a parent of an accused minor or an accused adult tax-dependent person who is being, or has been, represented by any public defender of the state, by any special assistant public defender, by any office of criminal conflict and civil regional counsel, or by a private conflict attorney, or who is receiving or has received due process services after being found indigent for costs.
Such lien constitutes a claim against the defendant-recipient or parent and his or her estate, enforceable according to law. (b) A judgment showing the name and residence of the defendant-recipient or parent shall be recorded in the public record, without cost, by the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the defendant-recipient or parent resides and in each county in which such defendant-recipient or parent then owns or later acquires any property. Such judgments shall be enforced on behalf of the state by the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which assistance was rendered. The lien against a parent shall remain in force notwithstanding the child becoming emancipated or the child reaching the age of majority. |
Property liens | All | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §775.089(5) | Restitution |
An order of restitution may be enforced by the state, or by a victim named in the order to receive the restitution, in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action. The outstanding unpaid amount of the order of restitution bears interest in accordance with s. 55.03, and, when properly recorded, becomes a lien on real estate owned by the defendant. If civil enforcement is necessary, the defendant shall be liable for costs and attorney’s fees incurred by the victim in enforcing the order.
|
Property liens | All | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §939.03 | Execution for costs in capital cases |
In all capital cases the costs in case of conviction shall be entered up against the prisoner, and the bill of costs, when taxed by the clerk and certified in the manner required by law to give a bill of costs the force of an execution, shall have the force of an execution, and may be levied upon any property of the prisoner found in the state. If the sheriff shall return said bill to the office of the clerk and make affidavit thereon that sufficient property cannot be found to pay the same, and shall state in the affidavit the amount left unpaid after exhausting all the property found, the bill, or the balance unpaid thereon, shall then be audited according to law and such amount shall be paid out of the county treasury.
|
Property liens | Felony | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §939.185(1)(d) | Assessment of additional court costs and surcharges |
The clerk of court shall cause a certified copy of the court order imposing such costs to be recorded in the public records. Such record constitutes a lien against the person upon whom the costs are imposed and shall attach as a lien on any real property owned by such person located in the county in which such order is recorded in the same manner and to the same extent as a judgment recorded as provided in s. 55.10. Such order shall attach as a lien on any personal property owned by such person located in the state upon the filing with the Department of State of a judgment lien certificate regarding such order as provided in ss. 55.202-55.209. A lien created under this paragraph does not attach to, or make subject to execution of levy or foreclosure, any real or personal property otherwise exempt under s. 4, Art. X of the State Constitution. A lien created under this paragraph is enforceable in the same manner as provided by law.
|
Property liens | All | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §945.091(6)(b) | Extension of the limits of confinement; restitution by employed inmates |
An offender who is required to provide restitution or reparation may petition the circuit court to amend the amount of restitution or reparation required or to revise the schedule of repayment established by the department or the Florida Commission on Offender Review.
|
Payment plan/installment plan | All | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §960.294(2) | Effect of civil restitution liens |
APPLICABILITY OF ALL JUDGMENT ENFORCEMENT REMEDIES. — A civil restitution lien order may be enforced by the crime victims, the state and its local subdivisions, or other aggrieved parties named in the civil restitution lien order, in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action, including levy against personal property by the sheriffs of this state and foreclosure against nonexempt real property. The provisions of chapter 726 apply to the transfer of the convicted offender’s assets to a third party and all other judgment enforcement remedies that are available by law.
|
Property liens | All | No |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §776.085(4)(b) | Defense to civil action for damages; party convicted of forcible or attempted forcible felony |
The court shall award a reasonable attorney's fee to be paid to the prevailing party in equal amounts by the losing party and the losing party's attorney; however, the losing party's attorney is not personally responsible if he or she has acted in good faith, based on the representations of his or her client. If the losing party is incarcerated for the crime or attempted crime and has insufficient assets to cover payment of the costs of the action and the award of fees pursuant to this paragraph, the party shall, as determined by the court, be required to pay by deduction from any payments the prisoner receives while incarcerated.
|
Payment plan/installment plan | All | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §945.6038(1) | Inmate litigation costs |
(1) The department shall charge an inmate for the following and place a lien on the inmate's trust fund account if the inmate has insufficient funds at the time the charges are imposed:(a) Costs of duplication of documents and accompanying evidentiary materials needed to initiate civil proceedings in judicial or administrative forums or that must be filed or served in a pending civil proceeding. The following costs are authorized: 1. Up to 15 cents per one-sided copy for duplicated copies of not more than 14 inches by 81/2 inches; or 2. For all other copies, the actual cost of duplication.
|
Property liens | All | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §960.17(2) | Award constitutes debt owed to state |
The court, when placing on probation as provided in chapter 948 any person who owes a debt to the state as a consequence of a criminal act, shall set as a condition of probation the payment of the debt to the state. The court may also set the schedule or amounts of payments, subject to modification based on change of circumstances, unless it finds reasons to the contrary. If the court does not order payment, or orders only partial payment, it shall state on the record the reasons therefor.
|
Payment plan/installment plan | All | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. Ann. § 849.20 | Machines and devices declared nuisance; place of operation subject to lien for fine |
Any room, house, building, boat, vehicle, structure or place wherein any machine or device, or any part thereof, the possession, operation or use of which is prohibited by ss. 849.15-849.23, shall be maintained or operated, and each of such machines or devices, is declared to be a common nuisance. If a person has knowledge, or reason to believe, that his or her room, house, building, boat, vehicle, structure or place is occupied or used in violation of the provisions of ss. 849.15-849.23 and by acquiescence or consent suffers the same to be used, such room, house, building, boat, vehicle, structure or place shall be subject to a lien for and may be sold to pay all fines or costs assessed against the person guilty of such nuisance, for such violation, and the several state attorneys shall enforce such lien in the courts of this state having jurisdiction.
|
Property liens | All | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §316.1937(5)(b) | Ignition interlock devices, requiring; unlawful acts |
Any person convicted of a violation of subsection (6) who does not have a driver license shall, in addition to any other penalty provided by law, pay a fine of not less than $250 or more than $500 per each such violation. In the event that the person is unable to pay any such fine, the fine shall become a lien against the motor vehicle used in violation of subsection (6) and payment shall be made pursuant to s. 316.3025(5).
|
Property liens | Traffic | Yes |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Florida | Fla. Stat. §903.286 | Return of cash bond; requirement to withhold unpaid fines, fees, court costs; cash bond forms |
(1) Notwithstanding s. 903.31(2), the clerk of the court shall withhold from the return of a cash bond posted on behalf of a criminal defendant by a person other than a bail bond agent licensed pursuant to chapter 648 sufficient funds to pay any unpaid costs of prosecution, costs of representation as provided by ss. 27.52 and 938.29, court fees, court costs, and criminal penalties. If sufficient funds are not available to pay all unpaid costs of prosecution, costs of representation as provided by ss. 27.52 and 938.29, court fees, court costs, and criminal penalties, the clerk of the court shall immediately obtain payment from the defendant or enroll the defendant in a payment plan pursuant to s. 28.246.
(2) All cash bond forms used in conjunction with the requirements of s. 903.09 must prominently display a notice explaining that all funds are subject to forfeiture and withholding by the clerk of the court for the payment of costs of prosecution, costs of representation as provided by ss. 27.52 and 938.29, court fees, court costs, and criminal penalties on behalf of the criminal defendant regardless of who posted the funds. |
Payment plan/installment plan | All | Yes |
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.