The passage of HB 1783 in 2018 eliminated the 12 percent interest rate on non-restitution LFOs, eliminated the imposition of discretionary costs on indigent defendants, and prioritized restitution before other costs, fines, and assessments when LFO payments were allocated.
Utilizing survey responses from key stakeholders, the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission’s report gathers insights into the current landscape of policies and practices around legal financial obligations (LFO) and provides an analysis of LFO assessments and collections. The in-depth examination of the state’s LFO system highlights significant inconsistencies in the assessment and collection of LFOs across state courts. Despite legislative reforms aimed at standardizing LFO practices, the lack of uniform guidelines has led to varied interpretations and implementations among judges and courts and resulted in unequal financial burdens, particularly for marginalized communities. This report also examines the LFO Calculator Pilot Project– an online tool that assists judges and court personnel in calculating LFOs by considering an individual’s financial circumstances and promoting assessments aligned with their ability to pay.
You can read the full text here.
Key Findings:
- Judges can assess at least 156 separate and distinct types of LFOs on defendants.
- Judges reported that 80 to 100 percent of defendants are indigent.
- 44 percent of judges do not believe LFOs are essential to the criminal justice process.
- Most courts of limited jurisdiction contract with private debt collection companies to oversee the collection of outstanding LFOs; private debt collection agencies can add collection fees between 30 and 50 percent.
- Between 2014 and 2016, two debt collection agencies collected only 1.6 percent of the LFOs imposed by superior courts, courts of limited jurisdiction, and juvenile courts.
- Between 2014 and 2018, the average amount of LFOs imposed per case in courts of limited jurisdiction declined by 12 percent.
- LFOs collected in courts of limited jurisdiction show that roughly eighty-five percent are distributed to local funds, then state funds (10.5 percent), and then to victims (4.5 percent).
Recommendations:
- Standardize LFO assessment and collection practices across all courts.
- Conduct ability-to-pay assessments.
- Develop comprehensive data systems to track LFO assessments, collections, and outstanding balances to help facilitate better analysis and policy development.