Local Court Fee Increases Associated with Increased Jail Detention
In Alabama, most counties have the authority to create fees, and over the past decade many have expanded court fees. Between 2012 and 2024, 39 local acts introduced new fees or increased existing ones across 25 counties statewide. Proponents of local fee increases often argue that they help offset the costs of running the justice system. New research from Public Affairs Research Council and MDRC complicates that belief, finding an association between rising court fees and rising jail detention rates – which could, in turn, increase incarceration costs at the local level.
Researchers evaluated annual county-level detention rates, county fee schedules, and court fee data from 2011 to 2025, and total fees and average (median) fees in each county that had increased fees in that time period. They found that every $100 a county adds in court fees is linked to 34 more cases of jail detentions (per 100,000 residents). Especially once jail costs are factored in, this research raises the possibility that fee increases might not deliver the revenue counties expect.
You can read the full text of the report here.
Key Findings:
- Out of the 67 Alabama counties, 63 counties (94 percent) have authority to add their own local court fees; more than 250 local statutory fee acts exist statewide.
- In Alabama, counties that raise their total fees by 1 percent also see jail detention rates increase by about 1.75 percent – suggesting that when fees go up, detention rates may increase at an even faster rate.
- Counties vary widely in the size of their cumulative fee schedules (the sum of all individual fees in that county). DeKalb, Chambers, and Barbour counties had the largest schedules, each totaling more than $6,000.
- For Barbour County, the average (median) fee was $80 – the highest of all counties.
Recommendations
- Conduct additional research that extends past correlation and association, and into causation to determine whether fee increases actually cause higher detention rates, or whether other factors explain the relationship.
- Explore the relationship between additional fees and revenue, and whether higher fees leads to more revenue.
- Study the demographics of people assessed fees and detained for nonpayment.