Modern Debtors’ Prisons: Fines, Costs, and Restitution

• FIXING PENNSYLVANIA’S DEBTORS’ PRISONS
• DEBTORS’ PRISON LITIGATION
• RESEARCH ON PENNSYLVANIA COURT DEBT

If you owe fines, costs, or restitution to a magisterial district court or a court of common pleas and do not pay on time, you may be at risk of being arrested. If you cannot afford your payments, you can ask the court to lower them. And if you have missed your payments and are threatened with jail, you have the right to a free lawyer before the court can jail you. Look at the self-help resources listed below for more information.

If you have followed the guides below and still cannot afford your payments or have been threatened with jail, please file a complaint with our legal department.

• Magisterial District Court Self-Help Guide (for people who owe money) (updated 9/6/2018)
• Court of Common Pleas Self-Help Guide (for people who owe money) (updated 9/6/2018)

• Legal Guide: Determining Ability to Pay (updated 9/19/22)
• Ability to Pay Evaluation Form (income and expense sheet) (updated 9/27/18)
• Summary Courtroom Guide to Contempt and Probation Hearings for Nonpayment (updated 9/6/18)

• Legal Guide: Fines, Costs, and Restitution at Sentencing (11/20/24)
• Legal Memorandum on Reducing or Waiving Costs at Sentencing (updated 9/19/22)
• Template Motion to Impose Affordable Costs at Sentencing (updated 9/19/22)
• Template Motion to Impose Affordable Fines at Sentencing (updated 9/19/22)
• Legal Memorandum On Imposing Costs on Charges That Are Dismissed or Withdrawn Through a Nolle Prosequi (updated 2/26/21)
• Pennsylvania Court Costs Statutes (updated 11/19/2024) (listing the statutes that authorize each of the court costs imposed in criminal cases)

• Legal Guide: Waiving ARD and Diversionary Program Costs and Restitution (updated 9/19/22)
• Template Motion to Compel Admission into ARD Without Payment of Costs or Restitution
  (updated 12/2/19)
• Template Motion to Complete ARD and Waive Outstanding Costs or Restitution
  (updated 12/2/19)

• Violation of Probation and Parole Guide (11/20/24)
• Probation Post Sentencing Motion Template (used to raise and preserve issues when probation or parole are revoked for nonpayment of fines, costs, or restitution) (updated 9/19/23)

• Legal Guide: Contempt Hearings (updated 9/19/22)
• Template Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus (mechanism to be released from jail)

• Act 163 of 2022 - Fines and Costs Bill Summary(which allows fines and costs to be waived and changes debt collection practices) (updated 11/4/2022)
• Legal Memorandum on Reducing or Waiving Costs Post Sentencing Upon Default (updated 11/19/24)
• Template Motion to Reduce or Waive Costs Upon Default (use to reduce or waive fines and costs post-sentencing when a defendant has fallen behind on payments or is unable to pay) (updated 3/14/23)
• Template Letter to MDJ Asking for Payment (use to ask an MDJ to schedule a payment determination hearing to waive fines and costs when a defendant has fallen behind on payments or is unable to pay) (updated 3/14/23)
• Template Form-Fillable Motion to Reduce or Waive Supervision Fees
• Philadelphia Motion to Defer, Reduce, or Waive Supervision Fees
• Template Legal Memo in Support of Motion to Waive Supervision Fees

• Legal Guide: Magisterial District and Municipal Court (including Traffic Division) Fines and Costs Procedures (updated 9/6/18)
• Template Legal Memo in Support of Motion to Temporarily Suspend Payments in Summary Cases
• Guide to Fines and Costs in Truancy Cases (updated 12/2017) (in collaboration with the Juvenile Law Center)

• Legal Memorandum on Juvenile Court Fines, Costs, and Restitution (updated 3/15/21)

• Legal Guide to Collecting Fines, Costs, and Restitution (updated 11/19/24)
• Template Motion to Set/Reduce Payment Plan (updated 9/6/18)
• Template Motion to Temporarily Suspend Payments
• Procedures are a little different in Philadelphia. Visit Community Legal Services’ Self-Help Materials for help in Philadelphia.
• Legal Memorandum Explaining Why Courts Cannot Require Payment from Social Security Funds (updated 11/20/2024)

• Driver's License Suspension Guide under Act 138 of 2024 (updated 2024-11-04)
• Template Motion to Reinstate License After Completing DUI Treatment (defendant has completed treatment and is current on a payment plan, but cannot afford to pay all fines and costs) | 2006 Legislative History of 75 Pa.C.S. § 1541

• Memorandum in Support of Petition to ProceedIn Forma Pauperis for Act 5 Expungement (to get expungement filing fee waived) (updated 3/31/20)
• Template Motion to Suppress DUI Blood Draw Fee (from Brian McNeil and Anthony Tambourino in York County)
• Motion for Sex Offender Treatment Costs Paidby the Probation Department for indigent defendants (updated 3/11/20)
• Motion to Correct Illegal Restitution (when a court has imposed restitution without the legal authority to do so) (updated 9/19/22)
• Legal Memorandum on Community Service in Traffic Cases When a Defendant Defaults on Payment (updated 2/3/2020)

Based on forms from ACLU settlements in other states, such as Biloxi, Mississippi, the ACLU of Pennsylvania has created model documents grounded in Pennsylvania law for courts to use at hearings to determine why a defendant has failed to pay court fines, costs, or restitution.

• Ability to Pay Evaluation Form (income and expense sheet) (updated 9/27/18)
• Ability to Pay Hearing Disposition Sheet (updated 9/6/18)
• Ability to Pay Hearing Bench Card (updated 9/6/2018)
• Notice of Hearing, Rights, and Obligations (updated 9/6/2018)

Both the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Criminal Procedural Rules Committee and the legislature are considering reforming the way that courts impose and collect court fines and costs. Visit our webpage here for more information.

The ACLU has been litigating these unconstitutional practices to protect individuals’ rights and provide much-needed guidance to trial courts. Visit our webpage here for more information.

The ACLU has begun to research Pennsylvania court debt. Visit our webpage here for more information.