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NORTH CAROLINA POVERTY RESEARCH FUND 22 Court Fines and Fees: Criminalizing Poverty in North Carolina Figure 4. Total funds disbursed by North Carolina Judicial Branch (2016 constant dollars) Note: No data available for fiscal year 2006-07. A slew of new fees went into effect in that same year. Source: North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts Recommendations We ask defendants, who are overwhelmingly poor, to shoulder an array of government expenses. As long as the General Assembly shirks its duty to fully fund the courts and other state activities, the imposition and collection of fees will remain a powerful political imperative. The decision to rely on a vulnerable and distressed portion of the population for funding is, as one judge said, “the root of the problem” posed by fines and fees. Legislative solutions like repealing the fees that penalize and ensnare poor defendants would be the most efficient and far-reaching cure, but the General Assembly in recent years has gone in the opposite direction. In recognition of this political reality, the recommendations below focus on steps the courts themselves can (and have started to) take. As mentioned above, judges should perform a mandatory inquiry into defendants’ ability to pay before assessing costs. While an ability to pay inquiry is not constitutionally required at this stage (only before a defendant is jailed), it would make far more sense for that determination to occur at sentencing. Waiting until courts have already expended time and money trying to collect money that isn’t there, even as the defendant becomes more enmeshed in debt, is counterproductive and inequitable. Courts should identify and apply standardized criteria when determining whether a defendant can afford fines and fees. Benchmarks such as a percentage of the poverty threshold, percentage of area median income, homelessness or receipt of specified services provide clear, bright line standards. Defendants who are found indigent for these purposes should be exempt from fines and fees, or at least enjoy a rebuttable presumption of exemption. If defendants can pay some amount, payment plans should be tailored to the defendant’s budget (as a percent of discretionary income, for example). Mecklenburg County has already taken laudable steps in this direction. District courts in the county will start to hold hearings on defendants’ ability to pay before handing out fines and fees. Judges will consider $0 $100 $200 $300 $400 $500 $600 $700 $800 $900