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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
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Hawaii	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 601-17.5	Collection of delinquent court-ordered payments	The judiciary may contract with a collection agency bonded under chapter 443B or with a licensed attorney to collect any delinquent court-ordered penalties, fines, restitution, sanctions, and court costs, including + See more juvenile monetary assessments. Any fees or costs associated with the collection efforts shall be added to the amount due and retained by the collection agency as its payment; provided that no fees or costs shall exceed fifty per cent of the amount collected.	Collection fee/interest	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Hawaii	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 291C-171.5	Collection of fines and costs	(a) Unless discharged by payment or service of imprisonment in default of a fine, a fine may be collected in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action.(b) + See more Costs may be collected in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action, but shall not be deemed part of the penalty, and no person shall be imprisoned under this section in default of payment of costs. (c) The state attorney general may institute proceedings to collect the fine, and costs, including interest and attorney's fees, as a civil judgment in the court of appropriate jurisdiction.	Civil judgment	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Hawaii	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-643(1)	Disposition of funds	(1) The defendant shall pay a fine or any installment thereof to the cashier or clerk of the district or circuit court. In the event of default in payment, the + See more clerk shall notify the prosecuting attorney and, if the defendant is on probation, the probation officer.	Other	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Hawaii	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 291D-10	Restriction on driver's license and motor vehicle registration	(a) When the person issued a notice of traffic infraction not involving parking fails to pay the total amount of fines, fees, surcharges, costs, or monetary assessments that has been + See more ordered, the court shall cause an entry to be made in the driver's license record so as to prevent the person from acquiring or renewing the person's driver's license until the outstanding amount is paid or the notice of traffic infraction is otherwise disposed of pursuant to this chapter.(b) In all cases where the registered owner of a motor vehicle to which a notice of traffic infraction has been issued fails to pay the total amount of fines, fees, surcharges, costs, or monetary assessments that have been ordered, the court shall cause an entry to be made in the motor vehicle's record so as to prevent issuance or renewal of the motor vehicle's certificate of registration and transfer of title to the motor vehicle until the outstanding amount is paid or the notice of traffic infraction is otherwise disposed of pursuant to this chapter; provided that if the traffic infraction involves an unpaid parking violation, this subsection shall not prevent the issuance or renewal of the motor vehicle's certificate of registration and transfer of title to the motor vehicle to another person, in which case the clerk of the court shall issue a clearance to effectuate the registration and transfer of title; and provided further that in no event shall a clearance: (1) Absolve the registered owner of the motor vehicle at the time the parking violation was incurred from paying the fine; (2) Prevent any subsequent issuance or renewal of the motor vehicle's certificate of registration and transfer of title to the motor vehicle; or (3) Otherwise encumber the title of that motor vehicle.	Driver's license suspension/impoundment	Traffic	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Hawaii	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 291D-9(c)	Adjudication of Traffic Infractions: Monetary assessments	(c) In addition to any monetary assessment imposed for a traffic infraction, the court may impose additional assessments for: (1) Failure to pay a monetary assessment by the scheduled date + See more of payment; or (2) The cost of service of a penal summons issued pursuant to this chapter.	Increased fine	Traffic	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Hawaii	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-644(1)	Consequences of nonpayment; imprisonment for contumacious nonpayment; summary collection	(1) When a defendant is sentenced pursuant to section 706-605, granted a conditional discharge pursuant to section 712-1255, or granted a deferred plea pursuant to chapter 853, and the defendant + See more is ordered to pay a fee, fine, or restitution, whether as an independent order, as part of a judgment and sentence, or as a condition of probation or deferred plea, and the defendant defaults in the payment thereof or of any installment, the court, upon the motion of the prosecuting attorney or upon its own motion, may require the defendant to show cause why the defendant's default should not be treated as contumacious and may issue a summons or a warrant of arrest for the defendant's appearance. Unless the defendant shows that the defendant's default was not attributable to an intentional refusal to obey the order of the court, or to a failure on the defendant's part to make a good faith effort to obtain the funds required for the payment, the court shall find that the defendant's default was contumacious and may order the defendant committed until the fee, fine, restitution, or a specified part thereof is paid.	Incarceration	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Hawaii	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-644(4)	Consequences of nonpayment; imprisonment for contumacious nonpayment; summary collection	(4) If it appears that the defendant's default in the payment of a fee, fine, or restitution is not contumacious, the court may make an order allowing the defendant additional + See more time for payment, reducing the amount of each installment, or revoking the fee, fine, or the unpaid portion thereof in whole or in part, or converting the unpaid portion of the fee or fine to community service. A defendant shall not be discharged from an order to pay restitution until the full amount of the restitution has actually been collected or accounted for.	Community service	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Hawaii	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-644(5)	Consequences of nonpayment; imprisonment for contumacious nonpayment; summary collection	(5) Unless discharged by payment or, in the case of a fee or fine, service of imprisonment pursuant to subsection (3), an order to pay a fee, fine, or restitution, + See more whether as an independent order, as a part of a judgment and sentence, or as a condition of probation or deferred plea pursuant to chapter 853, may be collected in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action. The State or the victim named in the order may collect the restitution, including costs, interest, and attorney's fees, pursuant to section 706-646. The State may collect the fee or fine, including costs, interest, and attorney's fees pursuant to section 706-647.	Civil judgment	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Hawaii	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-642(2)	Time and method of payment	(2) When a defendant sentenced to pay a fine is also sentenced to probation, the court may make the payment of the fine a condition of probation.	Condition or extension of supervision	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Hawaii	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-644(3)	Consequences of nonpayment; imprisonment for contumacious nonpayment; summary collection	(3) The term of imprisonment for nonpayment of fee, fine, or restitution shall be specified in the order of commitment, and shall not exceed one day for each $25 of + See more the fee or fine, thirty days if the fee or fine was imposed upon conviction of a violation or a petty misdemeanor, or one year in any other case, whichever is the shorter period. A person committed for nonpayment of a fee or fine shall be given credit toward payment of the fee or fine for each day of imprisonment, at the rate of $25 per day.	Incarceration	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Hawaii	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-630	Probation: Discharge of defendant	Upon the termination of the period of the probation or the earlier discharge of the defendant, the defendant shall be relieved of any obligations imposed by the order of the + See more court and shall have satisfied the disposition of the court, except as to any action under this chapter to collect unpaid fines, restitution, attorney’s fees, costs, or interest.	Condition or extension of supervision	Misdemeanor, Felony	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Rhode Island	R.I. Gen. Laws. Ann. § 12-19-31	Commitment for nonpayment of fines and costs	Whenever any person shall be committed for nonpayment of fines and costs, the sheriffs of the several counties and their deputies, and the town sergeants and town constables of any + See more town in the several counties, upon due warrant from the court before whom the person has been convicted, may lawfully remove and commit the persons to the adult correctional institutions and they shall be allowed any fees that are now provided by law in similar cases; provided, that in the counties of Newport and Washington, any person before removal from the county of Newport or the county of Washington, in which sentence is entered, may pay the fine and costs into the court or into the office of the clerk of the court in which sentence is imposed and upon payment shall be discharged.	Incarceration	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Rhode Island	R.I. Gen. Laws. Ann. § 12-21-9	Commitment for failure to obey judgment or sentence	If any person against whom sentence is passed or judgment rendered, under any penal statute, shall refuse or neglect to perform the sentence or to pay the judgment, he or + See more she shall, by order of the court passing the sentence or by the officer charged with the execution issued on the judgment, be committed to the adult correctional institutions, and be imprisoned there until the sentence is performed or he or she is discharged by due course of law.	Incarceration	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Rhode Island	R.I. Gen. Laws. Ann. § 12-21-1(1)	Methods of recovering fines and forfeitures	Unless otherwise specially provided: (1) All fines of five hundred dollars ($ 500) and under shall be recovered by complaint and summons; (2) All fines of upwards of five hundred dollars ($ 500), by + See more indictment or information; (3) All penalties and pecuniary forfeitures, by action of debt; and (4) All forfeitures of personal property, by complaint and warrant or by information.	Civil judgment, Other	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Rhode Island	R.I. Gen. Laws. Ann. § 12-21-33	Suspension of operators' license for failure to pay costs, fines, fees, or assessments	A judge of the superior or district court or the traffic tribunal may order the suspension of a person's license issued pursuant to chapter 10 of title 31 if the + See more person fails to pay court ordered costs, fines, fees, restitution or assessments within the time period provided for in an order of the court. The judge may order the suspension to be effective until the person complies with the court order.	Driver's license suspension/impoundment	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Rhode Island	R.I. Gen. Laws. Ann. § 12-25-26	Recovery of victim compensation from offender	Whenever any person is convicted of an offense and compensation is awarded under this chapter or under the 1972 Act for a personal injury or death resulting from the act + See more constituting the offense, the state of Rhode Island shall institute an action against that person for the recovery of the whole or any specified part of the compensation in the superior court of the state of Rhode Island in any county, or in the state or federal court of any other state or district in which that person resides or is found, or make a finding in writing, of the reasons why it is impractical or impossible to institute that action. The office shall pursue the recovery whenever possible in order to provide additional funds for the violent crimes indemnity account. The administrator shall develop rules and regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 35 of title 42, to identify those so convicted, determine their ability to compensate the fund, and file whatever action is appropriate to recoup those funds.	Civil judgment, Other	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Rhode Island	R.I. Gen. Laws. Ann. § 12-19-8.1	Conditions of probation	(a) The following shall constitute basic conditions of probation applicable to all defendants upon whom a period of probation has been imposed: (8) Pay restitution, court costs, and fines, if + See more assessed, in one or several sums, based on the defendant's ability to pay; and	Condition or extension of supervision	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Rhode Island	R.I. Gen. Laws. Ann. § 12-25-26	Recovery from offender	(a) Whenever any person is convicted of an offense and compensation is awarded under this chapter or under the 1972 Act for a personal injury or death resulting from the + See more act constituting the offense, the state of Rhode Island shall institute an action against that person for the recovery of the whole or any specified part of the compensation in the superior court of the state of Rhode Island in any county, or in the state or federal court of any other state or district in which that person resides or is found, or make a finding in writing, of the reasons why it is impractical or impossible to institute that action. The office shall pursue the recovery whenever possible in order to provide additional funds for the violent crimes indemnity account. The administrator shall develop rules and regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 35 of title 42, to identify those so convicted, determine their ability to compensate the fund, and file whatever action is appropriate to recoup those funds.	Civil judgment	All	No

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