Ability to Pay Archives - Fines and Fees Justice Center

First Steps Toward Equitable Fines and Fees Practices: Policy Guidance on Ability-to-Pay Assessments, Payment Plans, and Community Service

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, …

Community Success Initiative, et al. v. Moore, et al.

In North Carolina, roughly 70,000 individuals are prohibited from voting because they have a prior felony conviction, and in many cases individuals are disenfranchised solely because of their inability to …

Champagne v. Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP

Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP (“Linebarger”) has an exclusive contract with the Iowa Judicial Branch to act as the sole private company collecting court debt, including court costs, such …

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 …

Who Must Pay to Regain the Vote? A 50-State Survey

This report analyzes state voting laws to show how fines and fees are used to determine if a person can regain the right to vote after getting convicted of a felony.

The Limits of Fairer Fines: Lessons from Germany

To combat the significant number of low level cases being sentenced to short periods of incarceration, Germany increased their use of fines, shortly thereafter adopting day fines to ensure that …

Advancing Financial Justice in San Francisco: The Experience and Lessons of the City’s Financial Justice Project

This paper summarizes the lessons, successes, and challenges of the San Francisco Financial Justice Project, especially concerning criminal justice fines and fees reform.

Robinson v. Purkey [Robinson v. Long]

County Clerks in Tennessee automatically suspend the driver’s license of persons who fail to pay their traffic debt within a 30-90 day window.

Municipal Fines and Fees: A 50-State Survey of State Laws

This report, including an interactive map, provides a 50-state analysis of state laws that regulate municipal imposition and collection of fines and fees. The analysis is based on 52 factors, organized into 7 broad categories, that measure the extent to which state laws “prohibit, sustain, encourage or neutralize” municipal reliance on fines and fees.