A recent change to state law that was supposed to stop people from losing their driver’s licenses because of unpaid court bills is falling short.
That’s according to a new report from ThinkTennessee, a nonpartisan organization that studies policy issues in Tennessee. Researchers found many Tennesseans are still stuck in a cycle of court debt.
The issue started a decade ago, when legislators passed a bill that allowed the state to revoke someone’s driver’s license if they don’t pay all their court fines and fees. That caused hundreds of thousands of people to lose their licenses, triggering a class-action lawsuit.
Two years ago the Tennessee General Assembly revised the law. Now, courts are required to offer people payment plans before suspending their licenses. Those who can’t afford the cost, even on a payment plan, are supposed to be issued a restricted license that still allows them to drive to work, school and religious services.
But ThinkTennessee’s report found that access to payment plans varies from county to county. The research group’s president, Shanna Singh Hughey, says many people who qualify for help aren’t getting it.
“When you get behind on your court payment, it leads to all sorts of different punishments and negative consequences,” she says. “But the thing in Tennessee right now is that where you live, in a large part determines what those consequences will be.”
Researchers say Tennessee should make it easier for people to get financial assistance. But beyond that, they say governments should rely less on fines and fees in the first place. They note that several counties have altered their funding model to bolster their budgets with other revenue sources.
Davidson County, for instance has eliminated several court-related expenses, including a jail fee and a pretrial release fee. The criminal court clerk’s office also has a team to help people pay off their court bills and apply for waivers when they qualify.
The mayor’s office released a report last fall that analyzed the local criminal justice system’s use of fines and fees and proposed recommendations to transition away from them. Those included the elimination of the General Sessions Court’s probation fee and several other court and sheriff’s office fees. The authors also suggested that judges, clerks and prosecutors work together to help people who can’t pay their court bills and offer waivers to those in need.
ThinkTennessee’s report notes that Tennesseans with low incomes, including many Black and rural residents, are overrepresented in the state’s criminal justice system. For some, court costs are nearly impossible to afford. Research has found they sometimes commit new crimes to pay off their court debts, or their families are forced to shoulder the burden.
“Often, it’s not that people are choosing not to pay their court,” Singh Hughey says. “It’s that they truly, truly cannot.”
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