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

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.

44 Results

Export results to Excel

State Statute Description/Statute Name Statutory language Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap Level of offense Mandatory
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Indiana Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 33-37-5-22 (b) Applicability — Late Payment Fee — Requirement to Pay — Defendant Not Indigent

A court may adopt a local rule to impose a late payment fee under this section on defendants described in subsection (a).

Increased fine All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Indiana Ind. Code § 35-38-1-18 (d)(2)-(3) Payment of Fines

(d) Upon any default in the payment of the fine:... (2) the court may direct that the person, if the person is not indigent, be committed to the county jail

+ See more
and credited toward payment at the rate of twenty dollars ($20) for each twenty-four (24) hour period the person is confined, until the amount paid plus the amount credited equals the entire amount due; or (3) the court may institute contempt proceedings or order the convicted person’s wages, salary, and other income garnished in accordance with IC 24-4.5-5-105 to enforce the court’s order for payment of the fine.

Incarceration, Wage/bank account garnishment All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Indiana Ind. Code § 35-38-2-1.7 (d) Payment of Probation User’s Fee — Lien — Garnishment

If a court orders a person to pay a probation user's fee under section 1 or 1.5 of this chapter, the court may garnish the wages, salary, and other income

+ See more
earned by the person to enforce the order.

Wage/bank account garnishment All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Indiana Ind. Code § 33-37-4-10 Itemized Fee Bills — Duty of Sheriff to Collect

(a) Not later than seventy-five (75) days after judgment is entered in an action, the clerk shall issue an itemized fee bill for the collection of fees that were charged

+ See more
against the party in that action and that remain unpaid. The clerk shall present the fee bill for collection to the sheriff of a county in which the debtor party resides or in which the debtor party has property.(b) The sheriff shall do the following: (1) Collect the amount due under the fee bill. (2) Return the fee bill to the clerk not more than sixty (60) days after the day the fee bill was issued. (c) After presented to the sheriff, a fee bill has the effect of an execution and operates as a lien upon the real and personal property of the debtor. (d) A successor of an officer may issue fee bills for the fees of the officer's predecessors in office in the manner provided under this chapter. A clerk may issue the fee bills of the sheriff or the former sheriffs of the county in the same manner.

Property liens All Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Indiana Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 9-30-11-3 Notice to Three - Time Violator

If it appears from the records of a court that has jurisdiction to enforce ordinances that regulate parking violations that three (3) judgments concerning a motor vehicle have not been

+ See more
paid before the deadlines established by a statute, an ordinance, or a court order, the clerk of the court shall send a notice to the person who is the registered owner of the motor vehicle. The notice must inform the person of the following:(1) That the clerk will send a referral to the bureau if the judgments are not paid within thirty (30) days after a notice was mailed. (2) That the referral will result in the suspension of the motor vehicle's registration if the judgments are not paid.

Driver's license suspension/impoundment Traffic Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Indiana Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 35-50-5-3 (b); (h) Restitution Orders

(b) A restitution order under subsection (a), (i), (j), (l), or (m), is a judgment lien that:(1) attaches to the property of the person subject to the order; (2) may

+ See more
be perfected; (3) may be enforced to satisfy any payment that is delinquent under the restitution order by the person in whose favor the order is issued or the person's assignee; and (4) expires; in the same manner as a judgment lien created in a civil proceeding ... (h) The attorney general may pursue restitution ordered by the court under subsections (a) and (c) on behalf of the victim services division of the Indiana criminal justice institute established under IC 5-2-6-8.

Civil judgment, Property liens All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Indiana Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 35-33-8-3.3 (h) - (m) Pretrial Services Fees

(i) A probation department or pretrial services agency may petition a court to: (1) impose a pretrial services fee on a defendant; or (2) increase a defendant’s pretrial services fee; if the financial

+ See more
ability of the defendant to pay a pretrial services fee changes while the defendant is on bail and supervised by a probation officer or pretrial services agency.   (j) An order to pay a pretrial services fee under this section: (1) is a judgment lien that, upon the defendant’s conviction (A) attaches to the property of the defendant; (B) may be perfected; (C) may be enforced to satisfy any payment that is delinquent under this section; and (D) expires; in the same manner as a judgment lien created in a civil proceeding; (2) is not discharged by the disposition of charges against the defendant or by the completion of a sentence, if any, imposed on the defendant; (3) is not discharged by the liquidation of a defendant’s estate by a receiver under IC 32-30-5; and (4) is immediately terminated if a defendant is acquitted or if charges against the defendant are dropped.    (k) If a court orders a defendant to pay a pretrial services fee, the court may, upon the defendant’s conviction, enforce the order by garnishing the wages, salary, and other income earned by the defendant.   (l) In addition to other methods of payment allowed by law, a probation department or pretrial services agency may accept payment of a pretrial services fee by credit card (as defined in IC 14-11-1-7(a)). The liability for payment is not discharged until the probation department or pretrial services agency receives payment or credit from the institution responsible for making the payment or credit.   (m) The probation department or pretrial services agency may contract with a bank or credit card vendor for acceptance of a bank or credit card. However, if there is a vendor transaction charge or discount fee, whether billed to the probation department or pretrial services agency, or charged directly to the account of the probation department or pretrial services agency, the probation department or pretrial services agency may collect a credit card service fee from the person using the bank or credit card. The fee collected under this subsection is a permitted additional charge to the fee or fees the defendant may be required to pay under subsection (e).

Collection fee/interest, Increased fine, Property liens, Wage/bank account garnishment All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

Indiana Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 33-37-2-3 (a)(4); (d) Indigency Hearing — Suspension of Costs — Default — Fees for Representation — Rights and Protections

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), when the court imposes costs, it shall conduct a hearing to determine whether the convicted person is indigent. If the person is not indigent,

+ See more
the court shall order the person to pay: ... (4) the entire amount of the costs at some later date, less any amount credited under subsections (g) through (i) for the performance of: (A) allowable community service work ordered by the court as part of the person’s sentence or as part of the person’s probation; or (B) uncompensated volunteer work approved by the court at a nonprofit or municipal corporation that benefits the community, even if the volunteer work is not ordered by the court. ... (d) Upon any default in the payment of the costs: (1) an attorney representing the county may bring an action on a debt for the unpaid amount; (2) the court may direct that the person, if the person is not indigent, be committed to the county jail and credited toward payment at the rate of twenty dollars ($20) for each twenty-four (24) hour period the person is confined, until the amount paid plus the amount credited equals the entire amount due; or (3) the court may institute contempt proceedings to enforce the court's order for payment of the costs.

Civil judgment, Community service, Incarceration All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 12-56-50 Set off of tax refund
Subject to the limitations contained in this chapter, the department, upon request, shall render assistance in the collection of any delinquent account or debt owing to any claimant agency by
+ See more
setting off any refunds due the debtor from the department by the sum certified by the claimant agency as delinquent debt.
Wage/bank account garnishment All Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 14-1-202(B) Compromise of fine
(B) The clerk of the appropriate court, or county treasurer or municipal treasurer, as appropriate, may compromise any fine, penalty, cost, fee, assessment, surcharge, service charge, restitution, or other amount
+ See more
imposed by a court or as a direct consequence of a court order to the extent necessary to collect these items. If a clerk or treasurer compromises an amount pursuant to this subsection, the proceeds representing the collected amount must be distributed pro rata to the entities that otherwise would have received the original amount.
Payment plan/installment plan All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 14-17-725 Installment Plan
Where criminal fines, assessments, or restitution payments are paid through installments, a collection cost charge of three percent of the payment also must be collected by the clerk of court,
+ See more
magistrate, or municipal court from the defendant and transferred to the county treasurer or city treasurer, as appropriate, for deposit to credit of the county or municipal general fund.
Payment plan/installment plan All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 14-25-65(B) Contempt/civil judgment
(B) A municipal judge may hold a party in contempt for failure to pay the restitution ordered if the judge finds the party has the ability to pay. In addition,
+ See more
a municipal judge may convert any unpaid restitution, fines, costs, fees, surcharges, and assessments to a civil judgment as provided in Section 17-25-323(C).
Property liens All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 16-3-1270 Property lien
If a person is unable at the time of sentencing or at any other time the court may set to pay a restitution charge imposed by the court pursuant to
+ See more
Sections 24-23-210 through 24-23-230, such restitution charge shall constitute a lien against the offender and against any real or personal property of the offender. A restitution charge shall not constitute a lien if it is waived by the Director pursuant to Section 24-23-210. Such lien may be filed by the Attorney General in the respective offices of the clerks of court and registers of deeds of this State in the same manner state tax liens are filed and may be enforced and collected by the Attorney General in the same manner state tax liens are enforced and collected.
Property liens All Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 17-25-323 Civil judgment and property lien
(B) When a defendant is placed on probation by the court or parole by the Board of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, and ordered to make restitution, and the defendant
+ See more
is in default in the payment of them or any installment or any criminal fines, surcharges, assessments, costs, and fees ordered, the court, before the defendant completes his period of probation or parole, on motion of the victim or the victim's legal representative, the Attorney General, the solicitor, or a probation and parole agent, or upon its own motion, must hold a hearing to require the defendant to show cause why his default should not be treated as a civil judgment and a judgment lien attached. The court must enter: (1) judgment in favor of the State for the unpaid balance, if any, of any fines, costs, fees, surcharges, or assessments imposed; and (2) judgment in favor of each person entitled to restitution for the unpaid balance if any restitution is ordered plus reasonable attorney's fees and cost ordered by the court. (C) When a defendant is ordered to make restitution by a magistrate or municipal court, and the defendant is in default in the payment of restitution or of any installment or any criminal fines, surcharges, assessments, costs, and fees ordered, the magistrate or municipal court, within one year of the imposition of the sentence, on motion of the victim or the victim's legal representative, the Attorney General, the solicitor, or the prosecuting law enforcement agency, or upon its own motion, must hold a hearing to require the defendant to show cause why his default should not be treated as a civil judgment and a judgment lien attached. The magistrate or municipal court must enter: (1) judgment in favor of the State for the unpaid balance, if any, of any fines, costs, fees, surcharges, or assessments imposed; and (2) judgment in favor of each person entitled to restitution for the unpaid balance if any restitution is ordered plus reasonable attorney's fees and cost ordered by the court.
Property liens All Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 17-25-325. Entry of civil judgment
The sentence and judgment of the court of general sessions in a criminal case against an individual may be enforced in the same manner by execution against the property of
+ See more
the defendant as is provided by law for enforcing the judgments of the courts of common pleas in civil actions. Before a general sessions court may enter a judgment against a defendant's property as authorized by this section, the judge must make findings of fact as to the amount of the judgment to be entered against the defendant. These findings must be supported by the preponderance of the relevant evidence as is offered by the parties.
Property liens All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 17-25-340. Incarceration
If the sheriff or his deputy return on oath that such offender refused to pay or has not any property or not sufficient whereon to levy, then a writ of
+ See more
capias ad satisfaciendum shall issue whereby he shall be committed to the common jail, until the forfeiture, costs and charges shall be satisfied. Such offender shall be entitled, however, to the privilege of insolvent debtors.
Incarceration All Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 17-25-350. Payment plan
In any offense carrying a fine or imprisonment, the judge or magistrate hearing the case shall, upon a decision of guilty of the accused being determined and it being established
+ See more
that he is indigent at that time, set up a reasonable payment schedule for the payment of such fine, taking into consideration the income, dependents and necessities of life of the individual. Such payments shall be made to the magistrate or clerk of court as the case may be until such fine is paid in full.
Payment plan/installment plan All Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 17-25-350. Contempt/incarceration
Failure to comply with the payment schedule shall constitute contempt of court; however, imprisonment for contempt may not exceed the amount of time of the original sentence, and where part
+ See more
of the fine has been paid the imprisonment cannot exceed the remaining pro rata portion of the sentence.
Incarceration All Yes
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 17-25-530. Civil Action
(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or rule of civil procedure, an eligible person has the right to bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction to
+ See more
recover money damages from an offender or the legal representative of that offender within three years of the discovery of the existence of any profits from the crime. Damages awarded in this action are recoverable only up to the value of the profits from the crime.
Property liens All No
BS-+-Light-Rounded-Square
Add to Dashboard

+ Create New

South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 17-25-540 attachment, injunction, receivership, and notice of pendency
(B) The office may act on behalf of all eligible persons and may apply for any remedies available to an eligible person bringing an action under Section 17-25-530. These remedies
+ See more
include the right of attachment, injunction, receivership, and notice of pendency. On the motion for a particular remedy, the moving party shall state whether any other remedy has been sought in the same action against the same offender. The court may require the moving party to elect its remedy.
Property liens All No