Jurisdictions across the country continue to impose disproportionate fines and fees. Until reform can be made, assessing a person’s ability to pay is critical to achieving fairness and equity in the court system. This resource provides evidence-based guidance for jurisdictions that currently have or are looking to implement ability-to-pay assessments, payment plans, and/or community service as an alternative to fines, fees, or other monetary sanctions. By promulgating this guidance, the Fines and Fees Justice Center (FFJC) recognizes that in some jurisdictions, interim measures like these have been or will be adopted – and that policy guidance is necessary and helpful to reduce harm to individuals, their families, and communities.
This guidance is most effective when all three of these policies are adopted and implemented in unison. Together, these policies (1) ensure fairness, (2) are consistent with constitutional requirements for the assessment of financial sanctions in the criminal legal system, and (3) improve court efficiency and make it less costly for jurisdictions to monitor debt payment.
FFJC views the three policies addressed in this publication as first steps — not comprehensive solutions — toward eliminating government reliance on fines and fees. FFJC advocates for the elimination of all fees imposed in the criminal legal system and for the imposition of fines only in cases when the sentence does not include a term of incarceration or supervision. If imposed, however, fines should be both tailored to the offense and proportionate to an individual’s financial circumstances. No fines or fees should ever be assessed in juvenile cases.
Read and download the complete policy guidance report here.
Policies covered in this report:
Ability-to-Pay Assessments
Ability-to-pay assessments are evaluations made by courts to determine whether individuals can afford to pay fines, fees, or other monetary sanctions without causing economic hardship. These assessments benefit individuals by ensuring that financial penalties are proportional to their economic situation. Courts must consider a person’s financial condition before imposing monetary sanctions, and if circumstances change, individuals can request a reassessment. There are several presumptions where individuals are presumed unable to pay, such as when they are receiving public assistance, have disabilities, or have experienced homelessness. In these cases, courts should waive or reduce fines and fees and consider alternative sanctions. If no presumption applies, courts calculate the individual’s income and family size to determine what portion of the fine they can afford, based on HUD’s “very low-income” guidelines. Courts must then tailor fines accordingly, often reducing or waiving fees.
Payment Plans
Payment plans are established after a court assesses an individual’s ability to pay and reduces or waives fines and fees accordingly. These plans allow individuals to pay off any remaining monetary sanctions over time without economic hardship. Courts must not charge any fees or require a down payment for enrollment, and there is no minimum debt requirement to qualify for a payment plan. Individuals should be informed about the availability of payment plans from the time the citation is issued, throughout the payment process, and even after any missed payments. They must also have the right to request adjustments to the plan if their financial circumstances change unexpectedly.
Community Service
Community service can be offered as an alternative to paying fines and fees after assessing an individual’s ability to pay and reducing monetary sanctions accordingly. Courts must allow individuals to choose between paying money or performing community service. Community service can offset part or all of the monetary sanctions owed. To ensure accessibility, a wide range of activities can qualify as community service. Courts should recognize participation in educational programs, job training, life skills courses, drug rehabilitation, and social services as valid forms of community service. Courts must credit each hour at no less than twice the local or state minimum wage when converting fines to community service hours. Additionally, there should be a cap on the total hours required to satisfy the entire sentence.