Sen. Darryl Rouson
The impact of criminal and traffic fines and fees on low-income Floridians and the efficacy of relying on those revenues for government programs would be studied by a special council under a bill now moving through the Florida Legislature.
SB 492, by Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee 10-0 on March 9.
It would create the Council on the Discretionary Imposition of Criminal Justice and Traffic Fines and Fees, supported by the Attorney General’s Office.
“Over the past 20 years, there has been a growing use of fees and fines in the criminal legal system in the state of Florida. Research conducted in other states shows this system of revenue generation has come at a high cost to families impacted by them while being an inefficient system of revenue generation,” Rouson told the committee.
Fines and Fees Justice Center
The Florida Legislature has added more than 20 new categories of what are called legal financial obligations (LFOs) to the criminal justice process since 1996, according to a 2010 report from the Brennan Center for Justice. They did so, the report says, without examining whether added debt “promotes recidivism or otherwise hinders reentry into society for those convicted of crimes.”
When individuals fail to make payments, they may get be sanctioned, including having their driver’s licenses suspended. According to a report from the Fines & Fees Justice Center, in 2017 more than a million suspension notices were sent to Florida drivers because of overdue court debt. The report also found that 72 percent of driver’s license suspensions in Florida are for unpaid fines and fees, not for unsafe driving.