COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court has taken major steps in recent months toward stopping local courts from illegally jailing people too poor to pay fines and court costs, activists and court officials said.

But while progress has been made in stopping so-called "debtors' prisons," observers said it will be difficult to completely stop courts from going too far in enforcing sentences.

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Knowledge is power Taking action A continuing problem

Knowledge is power

Ohio law and a 1983 U.S. Supreme Court ruling prohibits judges from imprisoning people who can't afford to pay fines or court costs. Courts are also required to credit debtors $50 for each day spent behind bars.

However, an American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio report released in April of 2013 found that municipal court judges in several counties failed to adhere to both requirements, mostly in cases involving minor traffic offenses or other misdemeanors.

In many cases, the ACLU of Ohio found, the municipal judges simply didn't know what they were doing was wrong. Many judges are also under pressure to collect fines from defendants to pay for their courts' operations, according to the group.

In response to the report, the Ohio Supreme Court has done more than any other state supreme court to address the issue of jailing debtors, according to the ACLU of Ohio's Mike Brickner.

The court has launched a campaign to educate judges about the law, sending every municipal judge in the state a laminated bench card explaining the law and stepping up training for judges, probation officers, and court employees.

Taking action

Many municipal courts criticized in the ACLU's report have taken action in recent months.

The Sandusky Municipal Court recalled more than 70 warrants for failure to pay fines, according to the ACLU of Ohio, and Mansfield Municipal Court released 11 people from jail. As of mid-April of 2014, Norwalk Municipal Court in Huron County credited 163 debtors a total of $180,000 for the combined 3,600 days they were incarcerated, the group said.

"Certainly, we've made a huge step forward in Ohio," Brickner said.

The Supreme Court's efforts have helped Cleveland Municipal Court judges better understand the law, said Presiding Judge Ronald Adrine. The municipal court, he said, is now taking an "in-depth look" at its procedures to ensure no one is jailed illegally.

Adrine said he wasn't aware of any instance in which a Cleveland Municipal Court judge has imprisoned someone who couldn't pay a fine or court costs, but added that he "wouldn't be surprised" to hear that it's happened.

"I think that all of us have been aware of the fact that you don't have debtors' prisons in the United States," Adrine said. "How that played out, I think in some instances, may not have been as clear-cut."

Mark Schweikert, director of the Ohio Judicial Conference, a state agency representing judges, said he believes jailing debtors has never been a widespread problem in Ohio.

However, Schweikert said, as many courts are under pressure to support themselves with money from fines and court costs, "it was important the judges be reminded of the issue and how collecting fines and costs should be managed."

Schweikert said judges have been supportive of the Supreme Court's education efforts. Milt Nuzum, the court's director of judicial services, agreed.

Bench cards, he said in an email, "do make a difference, simply because some of the laws and procedures are found in obscure places and it would take the judge a lot of research effort to find it."

A continuing problem

It's hard to tell how many Ohioans are being imprisoned today when they can't pay debts, as the practice is illegal, Brickner said.

But since the ACLU of Ohio's report came out last year, he said, his organization has received complaints about jailing debtors from half of the state's 88 counties. The ACLU is still investigating the tips to see if they're valid.

Isolated cases of illegally jailed debtors are likely to continue to pop up in Ohio, Brickner said, especially in rural areas and in Ohio's 300 or so mayor's courts, which are operated by cities and towns largely outside the state's judicial system.

"It's hard to totally eradicate the problem," Brickner said.