Scratching the Surface on How Much it Costs to Assess and Collect Court Imposed Criminal Fees and Fines
June 2020
Michael F. Crowley, Matthew J. Menendez, and Lauren-Brooke Eisen
Researchers at the Brennan Center for Justice set out to learn more about how much it costs agencies to assess and collect fees and fines in the criminal legal system. After watching court proceedings, speaking to court clerks, judges, public defenders, prosecutors, defendants, and police, and surveying prosecutors and other law enforcement officials, they concluded that most jurisdictions are not aware of how costly it is to assess and collect court-imposed fees and fines.
Key findings:
- Lack of data about the costs of criminal fee and fine enforcement is a real, verified problem.
- Criminal fees and fines are tremendously inefficient for generation of revenue, and as a means of funding courts and other priorities.
- Misspending on fee and fine enforcement distorts the activities of courts, law enforcement, and other justice agencies because it comes at the expense of public safety.
- Jailing people for unpaid fees and fines is by far the most expensive method of enforcing collections and generates little to no revenue—making it highly ineffective.
- Despite a responsibility to determine the ability to pay in imposing criminal fees and fines, courts in the jurisdictions researched spend little time at this.
- Unpaid and largely uncollectible fees and fines are accumulating in every jurisdiction investigated.