II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3024 

To amend the State Justice Institute Act of 1984 to provide technical assistance and training to State and local courts to improve the constitutional 

and equitable enforcement of fines and fees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 20, 2021 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. 

BOOKER, Ms. SMITH, Mr. KAINE, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the State Justice Institute Act of 1984 to provide 

technical assistance and training to State and local 

courts to improve the constitutional and equitable enforcement of fines and fees, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘State Justice Improve5 ment Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Supreme Court of the United States 

2 has repeatedly held that the government may not in3 carcerate an individual solely because of the inability 

4 of the individual to pay a fine or fee. 

5 (2) In 2019, the United States Court of Ap6 peals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that it is unconsti7 tutional to imprison people for failing to pay fines 

8 and fees without inquiring into their ability to pay. 

9 The Fifth Circuit also ruled that it is unconstitu10 tional for judges to determine ability to pay when 

11 court debts help pay court budgets. 

12 (3) Under section 3142 of title 18, United 

13 States Code, Federal judicial officers may not im14 pose a financial condition that results in the pretrial 

15 detention of an individual. 

16 (4) In 2017, a report by United States Com17 mission on Civil Rights evaluated evidence that— 

18 (A) 47 states increased their fines and fees 

19 in recent years, including fines and fees im20 posed on juveniles; 

21 (B) in Virginia, 1 in 6 drivers had license 

22 revoked as a result of an inability to pay court 

23 fines and fees; 


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1 (C) in New Jersey, 42 percent of sus2 pended drivers lost their jobs as a result of the 

3 suspension; 

4 (D) in the 50 cities with the highest pro5 portion of revenues from fines, the median size 

6 of the African-American population in each city 

7 was greater than 5 times the median in the 

8 United States; 

9 (E) in Washington, Latinos received higher 

10 fine assessments than non-Latino Whites for 

11 similar offenses; 

12 (F) 10 counties in California detained ap13 proximately 700 people per month for an aver14 age of 3 days as a result of a failure to pay and 

15 driving with a suspended license; and 

16 (G) according to the Department of Jus17 tice on the investigation of the Ferguson Police 

18 Department, revenue collection, not public safe19 ty, was the primary impetus behind the collec20 tion of fines and fees. 

21 (5) There is no clear evidence that fines and 

22 fees are an effective crime deterrent. 

23 (6) Defendants released from custody with no 

24 financial penalty return to court at the same rate as 

25 defendants released on financial bond. 


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1 (7) The burden of fines and fees is dispropor2 tionately shouldered by low-income communities and 

3 communities of color, which in turn aggravates and 

4 perpetuates poverty and racial inequalities. 

5 (8) Cities with larger Black populations fine 

6 residents more on a per capita basis and are more 

7 reliant on fines. A 1-percent increase in a Black 

8 population is associated with a 5-percent increase in 

9 per capita revenue from fines and a 1-percent in10 crease in share of total revenue from fines. 

11 (9) In addition, data on the extent to which in12 dividuals are jailed or otherwise penalized because of 

13 their inability to pay fee-only offenses are insuffi14 ciently developed, preventing a full picture of the 

15 pervasiveness of targeted fees, as well as the repet16 itive impact on individuals from both low-income 

17 communities and communities of color. 

18 (10) Individuals gave up necessities like rent, 

19 food, medical bills, car payments, and child support, 

20 in order to pay down their court debt. 

21 (11) Thirty-eight percent of people surveyed 

22 committed a crime to pay off their court debt. 

23 (12) Driver’s licenses are often suspended auto24 matically when cases are transferred to private colVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Oct 23, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3024.IS S3024

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1 lectors and are not restored until debts are paid in 

2 full. 

3 (13) Thirty States continue to require payment 

4 of all legal financial obligations before voting rights 

5 are restored, effectively disenfranchising individuals 

6 because of an inability to pay. 

7 (14) Many jurisdictions across the country rely 

8 on fines and fees as a primary revenue source. 

9 (15) A 2019 analysis of fine revenues found 

10 that— 

11 (A) fines are a critical source of funding, 

12 at times accounting for more than half of all 

13 general revenues; 

14 (B) fines and fees account for more than 

15 10 percent of general fund revenues for nearly 

16 600 jurisdictions, and in at least 284 of those, 

17 the share exceeded 20 percent, while another 80 

18 governments reported even higher fines ac19 counting for more than half of general reve20 nues; 

21 (C) annual revenues exceeding $100 for 

22 every adult resident, while 363 exceeded $200 

23 per adult in all the governments analyzed; 


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1 (D) the States with the highest fines and 

2 fees revenue are Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, 

3 New York, Oklahoma, and Texas; and 

4 (E) jurisdictions where fines and forfeit5 ures accounted for more than 20 percent of 

6 general fund revenues recorded a median house7 hold income of only $39,594. 

8 (16) The dependency on fines and fees creates 

9 a harmful incentive for courts to levy fines and fees 

10 on indigent individuals regardless of the severity of 

11 the crime. 

12 (17) However, some jurisdiction spent more 

13 than the revenue they raised collecting fees, there14 fore losing money through this system. 

15 (18) In some jurisdictions like New Orleans, 

16 the cost of incarcerating individuals unable to pay 

17 fines, fees, and monetary bail exceeded the revenue 

18 generated from those practices. 

19 (19) Some jurisdictions in Texas and New Mex20 ico spent 41 cents of every dollar of revenue they 

21 raise from fees and fines on in-court hearings and 

22 jail costs alone. 

23 (20) In almost every State and the District of 

24 Columbia, juvenile courts impose court costs, fines, 

25 and fees on youth, their families, or both. These 


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1 costs may increase recidivism, increase the potential 

2 of future jail or prison time, exacerbate racial in3 equality, and increase the economic and emotional 

4 distress of low-income families. 

5 (21) Imposing fines and fees on minors and 

6 their families is ineffective as a revenue-generating 

7 measure, often because minors in the criminal jus8 tice system come from indigent families. Imposing 

9 these fines and fees increases recidivism and eco10 nomic and emotional hardship on families. 

11 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to create 

12 a grant program to provide technical assistance and train13 ing to State and local courts to— 

14 (1) improve the constitutional and equitable en15 forcement of fines and fees; 

16 (2) improve practices regarding the use of fines 

17 and fees and their equitable enforcement when used; 

18 and 

19 (3) collect data to better understand the re20 search and best practices of State and local courts 

21 on a Federal level. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

23 Section 202 of the State Justice Institute Act of 1984 

24 (42 U.S.C. 10701) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

2 end; 

3 (2) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at 

4 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(9) ‘constitutionally adequate notice’ means a 

7 citation or summons that adequately informs an in8 dividual of— 

9 ‘‘(A) the precise offense with which the in10 dividual is charged; 

11 ‘‘(B) the amount currently owed by the in12 dividual and other possible penalties; 

13 ‘‘(C) consequences for nonpayment; 

14 ‘‘(D) the method and means for accepting 

15 payments; 

16 ‘‘(E) the date of any court hearing; 

17 ‘‘(F) the availability of alternate means of 

18 payment; 

19 ‘‘(G) the rules and procedures of the court; 

20 ‘‘(H) the rights of the individual as a liti21 gant; and 

22 ‘‘(I) whether the individual is required to 

23 appear in court in person; 

24 ‘‘(10) ‘fees’— 


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1 ‘‘(A) means monetary fees that are im2 posed for the costs of fine surcharges or court 

3 administrative fees; and 

4 ‘‘(B) includes additional late fees, pay5 ment-plan fees, interest added if an individual 

6 is unable to pay a fine in its entirety, collection 

7 fees, and any additional amounts that do not 

8 include the fine; 

9 ‘‘(11) ‘fines’ means monetary fines imposed for 

10 punishment; and 

11 ‘‘(12) ‘surcharge’ means a monetary amount 

12 added to a fine as a flat amount or a percentage.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. CONSTITUTIONAL ENFORCEMENT OF FINES AND 

14 FEES. 

15 (a) DUTIES OF THE INSTITUTE.—Section 203(b) of 

16 the State Justice Institute Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 

17 10702(b)) is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

19 end; 

20 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at 

21 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

22 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(5) assist State and local courts in the con24 stitutional and equitable enforcement of fines and 

25 fees.’’. 


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1 (b) PURPOSES OF GRANTS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 206(a) of the State 

3 Justice Institute Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10705(a)) 

4 is amended— 

5 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

6 the end; 

7 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the pe8 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(8) provide technical assistance and training 

11 to State and local courts to develop and implement 

12 best policies and practices for the constitutional and 

13 equitable enforcement of fines and fees that incor14 porate guidance that— 

15 ‘‘(A) courts should not incarcerate or issue 

16 an arrest warrant for an individual for the non17 payment of a fine or fee without first con18 ducting an ability-to-pay determination and es19 tablishing that the failure to pay was inten20 tional; 

21 ‘‘(B) courts should consider alternatives to 

22 incarceration for defendants who are currently 

23 unable to pay fines; 

24 ‘‘(C) courts should not condition access to 

25 a judicial hearing on the prepayment of a fine 


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1 or fee or a promise of future payment of a fine 

2 or fee; 

3 ‘‘(D) courts should provide constitutionally 

4 adequate notices and counsel in cases in which 

5 a fine or fee will be imposed; 

6 ‘‘(E) courts should not initiate driver’s li7 cense suspension procedures for nonpayment of 

8 a fine or fee; 

9 ‘‘(F) if courts choose to issue an arrest 

10 warrant or suspend a driver’s license as a 

11 means of coercing an individual to pay a fine or 

12 fee owed to the court, courts should not do so 

13 if the individual has not been afforded constitu14 tionally adequate procedural protections; 

15 ‘‘(G) courts should determine the ability to 

16 pay of an individual at sentencing prior to de17 termining a constitutional and equitable fine 

18 and fee; 

19 ‘‘(H) courts should reduce and waive fines 

20 and fees if the court has discretion in cases 

21 where the imposition of fines and fees would be 

22 unconstitutional and inequitable or cause undue 

23 hardship to the individual; 

24 ‘‘(I) courts should avoid adopting manda25 tory fines and fees for misdemeanors and trafVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Oct 23, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3024.IS S3024

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1 fic-related and other low-level offenses and in2 fractions; 

3 ‘‘(J) courts should grant judges the au4 thority and discretion to modify sanctions after 

5 sentencing if the circumstances of the defend6 ant change, including that the ability of the de7 fendant to pay a fine or fee becomes a hard8 ship; 

9 ‘‘(K) courts should adopt education re10 quirements for judges and court personnel on 

11 issues related to all relevant constitutional and 

12 procedural principles relating to fines and fees; 

13 ‘‘(L) courts should not impose a fine, fee, 

14 or any other penalty for the participation of an 

15 individual in community service programs or 

16 other alternative sanctions; 

17 ‘‘(M) if courts utilize community service 

18 programs or alternative service sanctions, best 

19 practice and standards for those programs 

20 should be used, including fair wage attribution, 

21 caps on number of hours performed, and per22 missible activities of service; 

23 ‘‘(N) courts should not order or extend 

24 probation or other court-ordered supervision exVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Oct 23, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3024.IS S3024

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1 clusively for the purpose of collecting fines, fees, 

2 or costs; 

3 ‘‘(O) courts should not charge interest on 

4 payment plans entered into by a defendant, re5 spondent, or probationer; and 

6 ‘‘(P) courts should consider the use of 

7 community service credits such as completing 

8 community service hours, domestic violence 

9 counseling, and drug treatment programs, as an 

10 alternative to payments.’’. 

11 (2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ex13 ecutive Director of the State Justice Institute shall 

14 promulgate regulations to implement the amend15 ments made by paragraph (1), including— 

16 (A) the information that shall be included 

17 in an application for funding under section 206 

18 of the State Justice Institute Act of 1984 (42 

19 U.S.C. 10705); and 

20 (B) any other requirements applicable to 

21 grantees under that section. 

22 (c) RECORDS AND REPORTS.—Section 211(a) of the 

23 State Justice Institute Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10710(a)) 

24 is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘The Institute’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Institute’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following 

4 ‘‘(2) REPORT ON FINES AND FEES.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Institute shall re6 quire that a recipient of a grant awarded for 

7 the purpose described in paragraph (8) of sec8 tion 206(a) shall submit to the Institute an an9 nual report that includes, for the previous 12- 

10 month period— 

11 ‘‘(i) the number of new admissions to 

12 jail or prison due to failures to pay fines 

13 or fees; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the number of new admissions to 

15 jail or prison due to failure to appear when 

16 the underlying offense is a failure to pay 

17 a fine or fee; 

18 ‘‘(iii) the number and type of alter19 natives considered for defendants who are 

20 unable to pay fees and fines; 

21 ‘‘(iv) the number of times a judicial 

22 hearing was contingent upon the prepay23 ment of fines and fees, including hearing 

24 fees if the court deems the defendant ineli25 gible for a fee waiver; 


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1 ‘‘(v) the number of times constitu2 tionally adequate notices were provided to 

3 counsel in cases in which a fine or fee will 

4 be imposed; 

5 ‘‘(vi) the number of times an arrest 

6 warrant or driver’s license suspension was 

7 used as a means of coercing an individual 

8 to pay a fine or fee owed to the court; 

9 ‘‘(vii) the number of additional fees 

10 imposed by the department of motor vehi11 cles to get a driver’s license reinstated or 

12 suspension lifted; 

13 ‘‘(viii) the number of times monetary 

14 bail practices were used that caused de15 fendants to stay incarcerated due to their 

16 inability to pay a fine or fee; 

17 ‘‘(ix) the number of times voter dis18 enfranchisement was used as a result of an 

19 individual’s inability to pay a fine or a fee 

20 owed to the court; 

21 ‘‘(x) a disaggregation of the data de22 scribed in this subparagraph by race, gen23 der, and disability status; and 


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1 ‘‘(xi) any other additional statistical 

2 data that the Director determines should 

3 be collected and reported. 

4 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.—The Director shall have 

5 discretion to waive statistical data reporting re6 quirements under subparagraph (A) that are 

7 not available to a recipient of a grant. 

8 ‘‘(C) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Insti9 tute shall submit to the Bureau of Justice Sta10 tistics and to the Committee on Appropriations 

11 and Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate 

12 and the Committee on Appropriations and the 

13 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

14 Representatives an annual report on the data 

15 submitted under subparagraph (A).’’. 

16 (d) STUDY.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

18 the date on which grants are first awarded for the 

19 purpose described in paragraph (8) of section 206(a) 

20 of the State Justice Institute Act of 1984, as added 

21 by subsection (b) of this section, the Executive Di22 rector of the State Justice Institute shall conduct a 

23 study on the effectiveness such grants on the con24 stitutional enforcement of targeted fines and fees by 

25 State and local courts. 


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1 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

2 the date on which the Executive Director of the 

3 State Justice Institute completes the study under 

4 paragraph (1), the Executive Director shall submit 

5 to Congress a report on the study and any policy 

6 recommendations that the Executive Director deter7 mines are appropriate. 

8 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

9 215 of the State Justice Institute Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 

10 10713) is amended, in the first sentence by striking 

11 ‘‘$7,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005, 2006, 2007, 

12 and 2008’’ and inserting ‘‘$27,000,000 for each of fiscal 

13 years 2022 through 2027, of which $20,000,000 shall be 

14 authorized to be appropriated for grants under paragraph 

15 (8) of section 206(a)’’. 

Æ 


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