Latest News

By Lindsay Hagy, Pro Bono Volunteer and Chair of the Court Costs, Fines, and Fees Working Group

This week Governor Rauner signed HB 4594, The Criminal and Traffic Assessment Act, into law. The law will go into effect in 2019 and will help many Illinoisans who could be negatively impacted by court costs, fines, and fees, like the mother of seven from Peoria who was convicted of a traffic violation and retail theft. She was ordered to pay $2,186 in court costs, fines, and fees and still owes $1,512, paying $35 a month. She shared, “ I tried to gain a waiver for many years, and I was denied due to the money owed. So I had to take out a loan to pay these fines.” While this woman and her family suffer, Illinois courts bear the administrative costs of trying to collect revenue from those who are unable to pay. 

Our working group’s research has found that outstanding criminal debt can extend an individual’s involvement in the system for months or years. This practice not only wreaks havoc on an individual’s life but is costly without yielding any revenue for the government. As part of our research, we surveyed 87 Cook County Public Defenders and 318 people with criminal debt in Peoria, Champaign, and the Chicago area. Here is some of what we found:

• Seventy-five percent of Cook County Public Defenders thought that the court costs, fines, and fees assessed against their client were “rarely” or “never” proportional to their client’s crime.
• Almost 1 in 3 court-involved individuals said their probation was extended for owing court costs, fines, and fees. Thirty-four percent of people had their supervision terminated unsuccessfully because of assessments; this can prevent individuals from being eligible for certain programs if they encounter law enforcement again.
• Of 197 court-involved people who responded, 34% reported having their driver’s license suspended for failure to pay court costs, fines, or fees. Forty-five percent of people with incomes less than $15,000, said that their licenses were suspended for failure to pay court costs, fines, and fees.
• Of 81 Cook County Public Defenders surveyed, 81.5% said that judges never or rarely ask about a defendant’s ability to pay.
• Thirty-seven percent of all court-involved people surveyed, and 41% of people with incomes less than $15,000, said that their court costs, fines, and fees increased for failure to pay.
• Thirty-four percent had their driver’s license suspended for failure to pay court costs, fines, or fees. Forty-five percent of people with incomes less than $15,000, said that they had their licenses suspended for failure to pay court costs, fines, and fees.

The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority has also issued a report in early August that outlined the impact of court costs, fines, and fees on Illinoisans. Even just $500 of assessments seems to have the power to extend a low-income person’s probation, suspend their driver’s license, get them into collections, and lower their credit score – all without significantly funding a single agency. We need a better system and will be monitoring the Act’s implementation.