Ohio Archives - Fines and Fees Justice Center

Providing Labor Market Context For Debt-Related Driver’s License Suspensions In Ohio

Debt-related suspensions (DRS) are the most common reason for driver’s license suspension in Ohio. As the need for a valid driver’s license increases as a condition of employment across all …

No License to Drive: Why So Many Ohioans Are Barred From Driving

States surrounding Ohio have eliminated debt-based driver’s license suspensions in recent years, but Ohio continues to issue suspensions for failure to pay court debt. An investigation by Marshall Project–Cleveland and …

Clearing The Road For Ohioans With Suspended Licenses: A Look At Ohio’s Reinstatement Fee Amnesty Program

For drivers in Ohio, there are over 30 offenses, with penalties ranging from $15 to $600, that may trigger a license suspension. The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) then …

How a Wealthy Cleveland Suburb Profits From Ticketing Black Drivers

Black Clevelanders say Bratenahl officers target them when they drive through the affluent and majority White village. From January to September 2022, almost all of the 1,006 tickets were issued …

Road to Nowhere: Debt-Related Driver’s License Suspensions in Ohio

Each year, over 1 million drivers in Ohio have a suspended license for failure to pay fines and fees. Using surveys, census data, and five years of debt-related suspension data …

Is There a Link Between Criminal Debt and Recidivism in Reentry?

To determine whether legal financial obligations (LFOs) are criminogenic, the author analyzed a multistate data set from the Urban Institute’s Returning Home Studies. The study followed formerly incarcerated men through …

The Demand for Money Behind Many Traffic Stops

Cities and towns, often those with weakened tax bases or that are barred from easily raising revenue, use fines and fees to raise revenue. Over 730 municipalities rely on fines …

Ohio Bench Card: Collection of Court Costs and Fines in Adult Trial Courts

This bench card provides guidance to judges regarding the imposition and collection of court costs and fines. The benchcard provides that a person may be jailed for a willful refusal …

Ohio Bench Card: Collection of Fines and Fees in Juvenile Court

The bench card provides guidance to judges on how to determine a juvenile’s ability to pay, and outlines the circumstances unique to juveniles that must be considered before punishing a …

Why journalists should cover local jails

In this article for The Poynter Institute, Al Tompkins underscores the importance of journalists covering local jails and suggests several coverage angles that journalists can use to convince readers to care more about incarceration at the local level.