Court fines and fees generate important revenue. But for some people, they’re an insurmountable hurdle. By Juliette Rihl

Court fines and fees generate important revenue. But for some people, they’re an insurmountable hurdle. By Juliette Rihl

A new PublicSource series

The true cost of court debt Stories about how court fines and fees deepen poverty and entangle people in the legal system.

Maleah Hartnett sat in the lobby of the McKees Rocks District Courtroom, crying as her 21-year-old daughter carried a small pouch to the clerk’s counter. She emptied the money inside and counted it out — $16.50. It was the first installment of her mother’s payment plan for an outstanding $206 bill for two minor traffic citations from almost 15 years ago. “You’re taking people that have nothing and demanding that they pay something,” 45-year-old Hartnett said. Hartnett, who’d just had a payment determination hearing for the 2005 citations, hadn’t realized the case was still active. Not until she was in court for a separate case in the fall, and a constable walked up to her with a 10-year-old warrant for her arrest related to the unpaid citations. He gave her two options: Pay the money, or go to jail. Hartnett lives in public housing in McKees Rocks and receives food stamps. Because of health problems, she isn’t able to work and is in the process of applying for disability benefits. She has no income. “They want people to come up with money,” she said after the Dec. 18 hearing. “I have no money.”

Maleah Hartnett tears up while explaining her struggle to pay off two traffic citations from nearly 15 years ago.

Every week, dozens of payment determination hearings like Hartnett’s are held throughout Allegheny County for people with outstanding fines and fees on offenses ranging from serious crimes to traffic tickets. Even for something as minor as running a red light or driving with expired inspection stickers, not paying off the citation can result in an arrest warrant, a suspended license and, in extreme cases, jail time. Throughout the county, there is more than $350 million in unpaid court debt on roughly half a million cases dating back to 1970, according to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts [AOPC]. The debt includes fines and fees left unpaid by people of all income levels. “They want people to come up with money. I have no money.” Revenue from fines and fees funds multiple levels of government, due in large part to lawmakers imposing court fees as an alternative to raising taxes. State Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne, is the Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. According to Baker, there are two reasons the state has added costs and surcharges to the justice system for years. First, the belief that wrongdoers should contribute to the costs of running the legal system and supportive services. And second, the need to generate revenue outside of raising taxes. “This is one of many nontraditional means that have drawn support in enabling our state to provide necessary services and meet public expectations,” she wrote in an email to PublicSource. The debt cycle Over the past six months, PublicSource spoke to people throughout Allegheny County struggling to pay their court debt on a range of offenses. One 33-year-old woman from South Side is slowly paying off four traffic tickets from 2009. She estimates she still owes $1,100. Solution: When to waive Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas judges can waive fines and fees. But the rules are less clear for Magisterial District Court judges [MDJs], who preside over the lower courts. Some judges believe they have the authority to waive fines and fees. Others don’t.



Allegheny County President Judge Kim Clark is considering creating a court order allowing MDJs to waive fines and fees and close out a case if someone is indigent, according to Angharad Stock, the deputy administrator of special courts for Allegheny County. It would only apply to traffic and summary offenses. A 46-year-old man who lives in the East End said he owes more than $20,000 in fines and fees related to low-level drug offenses. He is in long-term recovery and is working toward a degree in social work. His last arrest was in 2014. A 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student had a warrant issued for his arrest after he ignored an August 2019 citation for driving a friend’s car that didn’t have valid registration or inspection. He is now on a monthly payment plan to settle the $250 charge. Evans Moore, a Pittsburgh-based organizer for the criminal justice reform organization Families Against Mandatory Minimums [FAMM], said situations where people cannot pay their court debt are too common. “Folks’ lives are being stymied because they can’t pay their fines and fees,” he said. “You get caught in this never-ending cycle of the criminal justice system.” In 2018, Pennsylvania courts collected $444 million in fines and fees, roughly $35 million of which came from Allegheny County. Even so, the state has some $3 billion in unpaid monies on the books. While fines are monetary punishment for an offense, fees (also known as costs or surcharges) are administrative charges that counties and states impose as additional sources of revenue. Fees, which fund items ranging from the court’s computer system to emergency medical services, are not meant to be punitive. Yet for many offenses, the cost of fees outweighs the fine, in some cases many times over. “You get caught in this never-ending cycle of the criminal justice system.” Pittsburgh Magisterial District Judge Richard King said very few people are unable to pay their court costs; they choose not to. Courts can administer payment plans based on what a person is able to pay, sometimes as little as $5 a month. “They usually always have an ability to pay like $5 a month or something, but they don’t want to do it,” said King whose jurisdiction includes neighborhoods such as Allentown, Beltzhoover and Knoxville. Yet several judges, including King, agreed that the same cost can have a drastically different impact on different individuals. To people with means, paying $300 is only temporarily inconvenient, said Magisterial District Judge Bruce Boni of McKees Rocks. “But a $300 cost for someone who is virtually indigent can be catastrophic.”

Boni, who presided over Hartnett’s case, said he and other magisterial district judges in Allegheny County consider the severity of the offense, a person’s financial situation and the associated fees before imposing a fine. Fine and fee amounts are determined by state law. While fee amounts are set, certain fines have a range, giving judges some discretion. “These fines are specifically and thoughtfully tailored to the individualized situation,” Boni said. “How do you turn a wrong done by somebody, potentially against a victim, into money? That’s not easy.” Adrianne Brown, a 48-year-old resident of Elliott in the West End, knows what it’s like to feel trapped by fines and fees. She sat in the back of Pittsburgh Municipal Traffic Court on a January morning, waiting nervously for her name to be called. Even though she’s been to court every month or so for the past year — either to make a payment or plead for more time — it still made her uneasy. Brown is chipping away at the debt she owes for eight parking tickets and two moving violations — driving with an expired inspection and driving without insurance — all from more than a decade ago. She still owes about $1,600; she’s already paid roughly $400.

Adrianne Brown still owes $1,600 on a stack of traffic tickets from more than 10 years ago. If she falls behind on the monthly payments, her license will be automatically suspended again.