SB39 Alabama 2017 Session

This bill would require all circuit, district, and municipal courts in the state to consider alternatives to incarceration for defendants unable to pay fines or court fees, to provide notice when enforcing fines and court fees, and to safeguard against unconstitutional practices by court staff and private contractors

This bill would also prohibit the courts from incarcerating a person for nonpayment of fines or court fees without first conducting an indigency determination and establishing that the failure to pay was willful; from conditioning access to a judicial hearing on the prepayment of fines or court fees; from using arrest warrants or driver's license suspension as a means of coercing the payment of court debt when individuals have not been afforded constitutionally adequate procedural protections; and from employing bail or bond practices that cause defendants to remain incarcerated solely because they cannot afford to pay for their release

Relating to the enforcement of payment of fines and court fees; to require circuit, district, and municipal courts to consider alternatives to incarceration for defendants unable to pay fines or court fees, to provide notice when enforcing fines and court fees, and to safeguard against unconstitutional practices by court staff and private contractors; and to prohibit the courts from incarcerating a person for nonpayment of fines or court fees without first conducting an indigency determination and establishing that the failure to pay was willful, conditioning access to a judicial hearing on the prepayment of fines or court fees, using arrest warrants or driver's license suspension as a means of coercing the payment of court debt when individuals have not been afforded constitutionally adequate procedural protections, and employing bail or bond practices that cause defendants to remain incarcerated solely because they cannot afford to pay for their release.