Giving Compass' Take:

• Research shows that many people on probation are low-income and are are not able to pay high probation fees, which keeps them in a cycle of returning to jail. 

• How can policymakers address issues of probation fees and recidivism? What are successful alternatives that help people pay probation, court, and other fees? 

• Read about prioritizing and funding criminal justice reform. 

People on probation are much more likely to be low-income than those who aren't, and steep monthly probation fees put them at risk of being jailed when they can't pay.

Over 3.6 million people are under probation supervision in the U.S., and in most states, they are charged a monthly probation fee. The problem? Many of them are among the nation’s poorest, and they can’t afford these fees.

From our previous research in Massachusetts – and from reports from around the country – we know that the burden of probation fees often falls disproportionately on the poor. To determine the extent of the problem nationally, we examined the incomes of people on probation in a recent survey, the National Survey of Drug Use and Health. Our analysis confirms that, nationwide, people on probation are much more likely than people not on probation to have low incomes.

Our analysis of the 2016-2017 NSDUH data shows that people on probation typically have much lower incomes than those who aren’t on probation:

Key findings from our analysis include:

  • Nationwide, two-thirds (66%) of people on probation make less than $20,000 per year.
  • Nearly 2 in 5 people on probation (38%) make less than $10,000 per year, well below the poverty line.
  • On the wealthier end of the spectrum, few people (9%) on probation have annual incomes of $50,000 or more, while more than a quarter (28%) of those not on probation make at least $50,000 per year.

Monthly probation fees may be just one of several fees that someone on probation has to pay regularly. As part of the conditions of their probation, an individual might have to pay court costs, one-time fees, monthly supervision fees, electronic monitoring costs, or any combination of these charges.

As long as probation sentences include unreasonable fees and harsh punishments for failure to pay them, probation will continue to punish people just for being poor.

Read the full article about unfair probation fees by Mack Finkel at Prison Policy Initiative.