Price of Justice Initiative

Hand holding an envelope of small dollar bills

Rethinking the consequences of fines and fees.

Join us on Tuesday, April 30 at 2:00 pm ET to learn about an exciting opportunity to Rethink the Consequences of Fines and Fees. The Bureau of Justice Assistance will be offering no-cost assistance to jurisdictions across the country to examine and improve the administration of justice in this area. This webinar will launch the competitive site selection process. Experts from the Center for Justice Innovation, Alabama Appleseed, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Applied Research Services will support the efforts.

2024 Overview

Each year, courts and government entities at all levels of jurisdiction assess millions of dollars in fines, fees, and other legal financial obligations. As a jurisdiction, do you know how much you should be collecting? How much you are collecting? What sanctions you are imposing for nonpayment? What the cost is of implementing those sanctions? Is it worth it? By what measure?

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is offering no-cost assistance to five jurisdictions across the country to examine these questions and support them in developing and implementing a plan to improve the fair administration of justice.

Definitions

Jurisdiction: Local, state, and tribal governments. Common types include municipalities, cities, counties, circuits, or states.
Fines: Penalties assessed against individuals adjudicated guilty of criminal or traffic offenses.
Fees: Costs assessed against individuals and may include things like supervision fees, criminal history fees, public defender fees, DNA fees, and court costs.

Why Participate?

The development of your plan will be informed by (1) the assessment of the statutory framework associated with your fines and fees schemes, (2) assessment of monies owed, collected, and disbursed, (3) a cost-benefit analysis, and (4) interviews with system actors and people that owe fines and fees debt.

Who will support your efforts?

Staff from the Center for Justice Innovation, Alabama Appleseed, Applied Research Services, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. These staff are your training and technical assistance (TTA) team.

Project Goals

Each jurisdiction receiving support will form a policy team. Efforts will focus on:

Efficiency: Examining the benefits of the current system, including the cost of administration compared to the revenue collected.
Fairness: Exploring the system’s fairness and asking questions about whether processes, decisions, and sanctions are proportional and account for factors like ability to pay, and assessing any other safeguards in place to protect individuals that owe fines and fees.

Phases of the Work

Work will be site-specific and progress through the following phases.

Site Selection (Months 2-10): In collaboration with BJA, the TTA team identifies up to five jurisdictions that are ready to engage in the work.
Data Collection (Months 5-15): The TTA team collects data from each site.
System Mapping and Efficiency Analysis (Months 9-24): The TTA team “follows the money,” documenting the characteristics of individuals that owe fines and fees, tracking the flow of money from them to the court, and analyzing the system through a public administration lens.
Constitutionality and Fairness Assessment (Months 9-24): The TTA team, informed by the system map and input from impacted community members, examines the fines and fees schemes and any safeguards.
Work Plan Development (Months 9-24): The TTA team and site, including the community partner, will create a tailored work plan defining the site’s goals as informed by the TTA team’s analysis.
Support for Next Steps (Months 20-28): The TTA team supports each site in completing next steps through ongoing expert assistance and action research.

Eligibility Requirements

BJA will select up to five sites to participate in the project. Any site that imposes fines and fees at adjudication for criminal and/or traffic offenses can apply.

Applications should come from (or be on behalf of) a presiding judge, elected or appointed government official, or head of an agency/department who can, with support:

Assemble a policy team that includes system actors (judges and court personnel, prosecutor and public defender offices, local agencies that administer or receive revenue from fines and fees) and community (to include at least one identifiable community consultant with an understanding of the issues, connections to people who owe fines and fees, and localized subject matter expertise).
Identify the location of fines and fees data, and facilitate electronic transmission to the TTA team.
Make decisions affecting the imposition and/or forgiveness of fines and fees.

There is no cost to the site to participate. The community consultant will be paid for their time through an agreement with the Center for Justice Innovation.

Partners

About Our Past Price of Justice Initiative Work

In 2016, the Center for Justice Innovation served as the lead technical assistance provider for The Price of Justice: Rethinking the Consequences of Justice Fines and Fees. To address an issue of growing national concern–the appropriate role and limits of fines and fees in the justice system–the Bureau of Justice Assistance selected five states through a highly competitive process: California, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas, and Washington State. Each state received funding to engage in reform and to act as innovation laboratories. Over a three year period, the Center partnered with three organizations–the City University of New York’s Institute for State and Local Governance, the National Association of Counties, and the Center for Family Policy and Practice–to help the states use data and technology to measure and mitigate racial and ethnic disparities, and develop more meaningful and equitable non-monetary alternatives to the use of fines and fees.