A 23-year-old named Alex Pedroza from Wiscasset recently got stopped for driving a car with the plates registered to another vehicle and was given a $300 fine for Improper Plates. He had just lost his job and couldn't pay the fine, or pay to get the car registered. He took the plates off, and was stopped again for driving an unregistered car. But because he had an outstanding fine, he was not just given a ticket. His car was impounded, his license was suspended, he was fined $500, and he was arrested on a warrant that had been issued by Lincoln County for Failure to Pay Fine or Fee.

The 10 days Pedroza served in jail cost the taxpayers of Lincoln County a total of $1,800, far surpassing the cost of the fines and the cost to register his car. After getting out of jail, he had to come up with the funds to get his car out of impound — $70 per day plus the towing fee — as well as the cost to get his driving license reinstated, the registration costs, and the court costs. In the days and years to come, he will also pay more for his insurance.

All of this because Alex was too poor in the first place to register a car, in a state where having a car is an absolute necessity.

There should be penalties for breaking the law, of course. Having an insured and registered vehicle is the law; but the cost of justice is high for taxpayers who support the jail, especially when dealing with minor criminals who wouldn’t be serving time, but for being poor.

 Debtors' Prison

The U.S. eliminated debtors' prisons in 1833 under federal law. As Howard Zinn describes in the book, “A People’s History of the United States,” with the rise of U.S. bankruptcy courts, where most debt could be discharged, the states also began to eliminate debtors' jails. By the Civil War, they were mostly eliminated in the states as well as federally. In their place were poorhouses and poor farms where people could work off debts while not incurring new debt for living expenses.

But in the 1970s, across the country, there were changes to criminal codes that allowed states and municipalities to avoid expensive jail time for minor offenses and allow them to collect fees and fines. Soon, these became important for county, state, and local coffers, and began to be a significant source of revenue, while saving the cost of incarceration, Zinn writes. By the late 1970s, bankruptcy rules had been overhauled and certain things, including state, county, and municipal taxes, fines, and fees, could no longer be discharged.

Keeping people out of jail was also considered more humane, as people could remain at home with their families and continue to work at their jobs, so that they and their families weren't a drain on welfare resources. For these and many other reasons, justice departments began to rely more heavily on fines, rather than jail time for nonviolent offenders.

‘Willful’ refusal to pay fines

For the very poor, however, this meant that debtors' prisons had returned, since there had to be a price to be paid if there was “willful” refusal to pay fines. Since additional fines would not make the state's point, jail time or prison time were the only options if someone failed to pay what was owed.

What “willful” refusal means varies from state to state. In Maine, someone who does not pay a fine is often first summoned to court to answer why he or she hasn't paid the fine. Unless the person can prove that there were extenuating circumstances for their failure to pay, such as the loss of a job, the state can impose certain penalties, including an additional fine of up to $500, the loss of a driving license, suspension of registration, suspension of hunting or fishing licenses, or suspension of professional licenses.

Often, a person who can't pay a fine doesn't respond to a summons. In these cases, they receive an additional charge of Failure to Appear or Failure to Pay Fines or Fees, and a warrant is issued for their arrest.

According to Maine statute, an offender committed for nonpayment of a fine is given credit toward the payment of the fine for each day of confinement, at the rate specified in the court's order, which may not be less than $25 or more than $100 of unpaid fine for each day of confinement.

In Pedroza’s case, his fine of $500 was expunged by his 10 days in jail, since the judge ordered that he get $50 in credit per day toward the fines. However, he still had a lot of things to pay when he got out, including his car impound fees, a $375 charge to have his driver's license reinstated, and the court costs.

 Alternatives to incarceration

Many states have programs for nonviolent offenders such as Pedroza to work off their debt to society in the community. Maine has a community service option written in its statutes as well, but it is rarely used in Lincoln County for people who are post-conviction, in part because it takes a great deal of organization and supervision. There is no real system for reaching out to nonprofits or government organizations to arrange placement, transportation, screening, and supervision. In general, this option is more frequently offered to juvenile offenders in lieu of jail time.

When it takes place, the inmate earns $25 per eight hour day toward his or her fines. At the end of the commitment, the inmate is still responsible for the remaining fine.

Maine, like other states, can offer other options, including a work-release program in which inmates leave the jail during working hours to earn money to pay their fines or restitution, then return at the end of the day. However, these programs can only be used when an inmate has been sentenced. Pretrial inmates are not eligible. Because so many are diverted at Two Bridges Regional Jail, said Administrator Mark Westrum, hiring someone to handle work-release or community service options for the handful of nonviolent offenders who are committed to jail after trial would not be cost-effective.

For inmates like Pedroza, a program like this probably wouldn't have been cost-effective. His fine was paid off in just ten days in jail. But for others, being able to live outside the jail doing community service, or using work-release as a means to keep or train for a new job, can make a world of difference, if it’s available.

The high cost of debtors’ jail to taxpayers

Depending on how one calculates it, the cost to keep someone in jail, paying for their bed and board, medicine, supervision, utilities, and clothing can cost between $100 and $180 per day. “When you take into consideration operating expenses and capital expenses, it’s closer to the $180 amount,” said Westrum. “Keeping someone in jail who doesn’t have to be there — the nonviolent offenders — just because they owe the state a little money is a waste of resources, and it’s bad for the offender in a lot of ways. They often lose a job when they’re in jail, for instance.”

Then their financial and family problems can snowball; a lot of these offenders wind up on general assistance, Westrum said.

“People make mistakes,” he said. “Especially young people, sometimes they make bad mistakes. But unless we want them to be dependent on us forever, we have to find ways to let them pay their debt to society without losing everything.”