Five Facts about Fines and Fees Revenues

This brief summarizes the latest data from the US Census Bureau on where and to what extent places are relying on fine and fee revenue. 

Key Findings: 

1. Fiscal year 2022 data reveals nearly 20,000 local governments and 50 states collected a combined $13.9 billion from criminal legal fines, fees, and forfeitures in 2022, but fines and fees revenues comprised only 0.3 percent of state and local general revenue in 2022.
2. At the state level, fines and fees are a small revenue stream compared to revenue than from income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, and motor vehicle licenses.
3. Smaller cities, towns, and villages were more reliant on fines and fees than larger cities in 2022. Anacoco, Louisiana, and Linndale, Ohio, villages with less than 1,000 residents each, raised over 90 percent of their budgets from fines and fees. 
4. New York City ($1.2 billion) was the only jurisdiction nationwide to raise over $1 billion from fines and fees
5. School districts collect fines and fees too–Barbers Hill, Gregory Portland, and Houston—raised over $20 million each from fines and fees in 2022.