Data Explorer: Enforcement Mechanisms | 50 State Criminal Justice Debt Tool

Poverty Penalties and Poverty Traps

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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	Illinois	730 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/5-6-3(a)(7)	Conditions of probation and of conditional discharge	(7) if he or she is at least 17 years of age and has been sentenced to probation or conditional discharge for a misdemeanor or felony in a county of 3,000,000 + See more or more inhabitants and has not been previously convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, may be required by the sentencing court to attend educational courses designed to prepare the defendant for a high school diploma and to work toward a high school diploma or to work toward passing high school equivalency testing or to work toward completing a vocational training program approved by the court. The person on probation or conditional discharge must attend a public institution of education to obtain the educational or vocational training required by this paragraph (7). The court shall revoke the probation or conditional discharge of a person who wilfully fails to comply with this paragraph (7). The person on probation or conditional discharge shall be required to pay for the cost of the educational courses or high school equivalency testing if a fee is charged for those courses or testing.	Condition or extension of supervision	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Illinois	730 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/5-6-3(i)	Conditions of probation and of conditional discharge	(i) The court shall impose upon an offender sentenced to probation after January 1, 1989 or to conditional discharge after January 1, 1992 or to community service under the supervision of + See more a probation or court services department after January 1, 2004, as a condition of such probation or conditional discharge or supervised community service, a fee of $50 for each month of probation or conditional discharge supervision or supervised community service ordered by the court, unless after determining the inability of the person sentenced to probation or conditional discharge or supervised community service to pay the fee, the court assesses a lesser fee.	Condition or extension of supervision	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Illinois	730 ILCS 5/5-6-3(b)(10)(iv)	Conditions of probation and of conditional discharge	(iv) for persons convicted of any alcohol, cannabis or controlled substance violation who are placed on an approved monitoring device as a condition of probation or conditional discharge, the court shall + See more impose a reasonable fee for each day of the use of the device, as established by the county board in subsection (g) of this Section, unless after determining the inability of the offender to pay the fee, the court assesses a lesser fee or no fee as the case may be.	Condition or extension of supervision	All	Yes
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Illinois	730 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/5-9-3(a)-(b)	Fines: Default	(a) An offender who defaults in the payment of a fine or any installment of that fine may be held in contempt and imprisoned for nonpayment. The court may issue a + See more summons for his appearance or a warrant of arrest. (b) Unless the offender shows that his default was not due to his intentional refusal to pay, or not due to a failure on his part to make a good faith effort to pay, the court may order the offender imprisoned for a term not to exceed 6 months if the fine was for a felony, or 30 days if the fine was for a misdemeanor, a petty offense or a business offense. Payment of the fine at any time will entitle the offender to be released, but imprisonment under this Section shall not satisfy the payment of the fine.	Incarceration	All	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. § 12-19-8.1	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	Washington DC	DC ST § 16-706	Enforcement of judgments; commitment upon non-payment of fine	The Superior Court may enforce any of its judgments rendered in criminal cases by fine or imprisonment, or both. Except as otherwise provided by law, and subject to the relief + See more provided in section 3569 of title 18, United States Code, in any case where the court imposes a fine, the court may, in the event of default in the payment of the fine imposed, commit the defendant for a term not to exceed one year.	Incarceration	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Washington DC	DC ST § 11-741	Contempt powers (DC Court of Appeals)	(a) Subject to the limitation described in subsection (b), and in addition to the powers conferred by section 402 of title 18, United States Code, the District of Columbia Court + See more of Appeals, or a judge thereof, may punish for disobedience of an order or for contempt committed in the presence of the court.... (3)(A) An individual imprisoned for 6 consecutive months for civil contempt for disobedience of an order in a proceeding described in paragraph (1) who continues to disobey such order may be prosecuted for criminal contempt for disobedience of such order at any time before the expiration of the 12-month period that begins on the first day of such individual's imprisonment, except that an individual so imprisoned as of the date of the enactment of this subsection may be prosecuted under this subsection at any time during the 90-day period that begins on the date of the enactment of this subsection. ...	Incarceration	All	No
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Washington DC	DC ST § 11-944	Contempt power (Superior Court of DC)	(a) Subject to the limitation described in subsection (b), and in addition to the powers conferred by section 402 of title 18, United States Code, the Superior Court, or a + See more judge thereof, may punish for disobedience of an order or for contempt committed in the presence of the court.... (3)(A) An individual imprisoned for 6 consecutive months for civil contempt for disobedience of an order in a proceeding described in paragraph (1) who continues to disobey such order may be prosecuted for criminal contempt for disobedience of such order at any time before the expiration of the 12-month period that begins on the first day of such individual's imprisonment, except that an individual so imprisoned as of the date of the enactment of this subsection may be prosecuted under this subsection at any time during the 90-day period that begins on the date of the enactment of this subsection.	Incarceration	All	No

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