Survey results indicated that fees comprise as little as zero percent of agency budgets up to 70 percent; agencies in which fees form a substantial portion of the budget are often rural communities in states with a locally organized structure.
Monetary sanctions are widely scrutinized across the United States, but community supervision fees remain underexplored. To fill this gap, the Utah Criminal Justice Center (UCJC) collaborated with the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) and the National Association of Probation Executives (NAPE) to examine supervision fees for adult felony probation. Researchers used a mix of surveys, interviews, and secondary data collection from all 50 states and D.C. to understand collection and revocation practices, policies regarding collection and agency budgets, and the effects of fees on individuals on probation. They found that fees are primarily used to offset the cost of supervision, and although most commonly established by statutes, most jurisdictions give the authority to make modifications to the courts or the supervising agency. Respondents also believed fees were burdensome to agencies and individuals on probation, raising questions about the effectiveness and fairness of these fees.
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Key Findings:
- Nine states plus the District of Columbia (Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Oregon, South Dakota, Virginia, and Washington) do not collect supervision fees; of those, only two specifically disallow the collection of fees in state statute.
- Supervision fees range from $10 to $150 per month, varying by jurisdiction.
- 39.2 percent of state statutes stated that fee collection is intended to offset the costs of supervision, while 41.2 percent stated no purpose for fee collection.
- 14 states allow the court or supervising agency to revoke supervision for failure to pay fees.
- To offset the costs incurred for unpaid fees, some statutes require individuals on probation to serve out the fee through a jail sentence where they are given credit towards their outstanding balance.
- One-fourth of agencies use third-party entities to collect fees.
- Eight agencies provided the cost to the agency for collection fees, and one state provided figures showing that fees comprised 4 percent of the operating budget, but the agency spent 5 percent of that budget to collect fees.
- In 14 states, supervision fees are retained by the agency, and in 22 states, collected fees are reallocated to state or county general funds and then reallocated by formula.