“Low-hanging fruit” or “blood out of a turnip”? As tax revenue slows, lawmakers in Alabama and across the United States may turn to court costs.
Sluggish tax collections could set the stage nationally for new hikes in court costs, fines, and fees. That’s according to a recent article by The Pew Charitable Trusts, which observes that “many of the fiscal conditions that in recent decades led to this heavy reliance on fines and fees—federal retrenchment, slowing state tax revenue, and […]
Joint Interim Court Cost Study Commission Recommends Standardization, Transparency, and Reform to “Patchwork” System of Fees
For over a decade, PARCA has documented the role of court costs as they exist at the intersection of public finance and public safety, sometimes providing the only analysis of this important source of revenue. In a report sent to lawmakers earlier this week, Chief Justice Sarah Stewart writes that Alabama lawmakers should standardize court […]
Local Court Fee Increases Associated with Increased Jail Detention, New Research Finds
New research led by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA) and MDRC indicates that each additional $100 in cumulative court fees for criminal cases is associated with an additional 34 jail detentions per 100,000 people at the county level. This small but significant increase suggests that fee increases could increase detention rather than deter it. […]
Court cost collections continue to sag
In tough budget years, lawmakers have often looked for alternative ways to bring in revenue to support state government operations. In the case of the judicial branch of government, the Legislature has repeatedly raised the charges, fees and fines charged to the users of the court system, shifting much of the cost burden for court operations to […]