On Thin Ice: Bureaucratic Processes of Monetary Sanctions and Job Insecurity
This article shows how court debt collection practices affect employment opportunities based on research conducted in Illinois and Washington State.
Debt Bondage: How Private Collection Agencies Keep the Formerly Incarcerated Tethered to the Criminal Justice System
In Washington, the clerk of courts can transfer the legal financial obligations of incarcerated people to a private debt collection agency if they are thirty days late making a payment. …
Court-Imposed Fines as a Feature of The Homelessness-Incarceration Nexus: A Cross-Sectional Study of the Relationship Between Legal Debt and Duration of Homelessness in Seattle, Washington, USA
Public health practitioners have long linked homelessness and criminal conviction. This is the first study of the effect of legal financial obligations (LFOs) on the duration of homelessness. In a …
WA State Courts of Limited Jurisdiction: 2018 Reference Guide on Legal Financial Obligations in Criminal Cases
This bench card is meant to educate Washington State judges about procedural protections owed to defendants who are ordered to pay fines and fees in criminal court.
LFO (Legal Financial Obligations) Calculator (State of Washington)
With the help of Microsoft and a Department of Justice grant, the state of Washington launched a web-based Calculator to enable judges, defendants, and public defenders to calculate fines and fees owed.
United States Systems of Justice, Poverty and the Consequences of Non-Payment of Monetary Sanctions: Interviews from California, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, New York, and Washington
This report is a culmination of a year of research that involved interviews conducted with 380 people who made contact with systems of justice in eight states and were assessed fines and fees.
Monetary Sanctions in the Criminal Justice System
This review of law and policy is the first-year report of a five-year study comprising quantitative and qualitative research that provides a detailed understanding of how fines and fees are imposed and enforced across the United States.
Washington House Bill 1783 – An act relating to legal financial obligations.
Effective June 7, 2018, this bill makes several changes to the imposition and collection of fines and fees in Washington State.
Washington Substitute Senate Bill 6360: Developing a plan for the consolidation of traffic-based financial obligations
This bill invited criminal justice system stakeholders to participate in a work group to develop a plan and program to consolidate drivers’ traffic fines and fees from multiple Washington courts into “unified and affordable” payment plans.
Fuentes v. Benton County
This case challenged Benton County, Washington’s practice of incarcerating indigent defendants for failure to pay court fines and fees without any inquiry into their financial status or ability to pay.