Oklahoma is making progress on fines and fees reform, but the fight is still on.
Fines and Fees reform seeks to fund courts and police through the state budget — like any other core function of state government — rather than placing the financial burden on Oklahomans through expenses like court fees.
Thanks to advocates like you, Oklahoma passed pivotal legislation TO REFORM FINES AND FEES IN RECENT YEARS:
HB 3205
significantly reduces court costs for children involved in the juvenile justice system, eliminating about $1 million worth of fees.
HB 2259
protects defendants' rights against court debt.
HB 3546
provides more flexibility and due process for defendants struggling to pay court-ordered fines and fees, like payment plans or waivers.
We need your help to tackle the remaining FINES AND FEES in the adult court system.
Tell lawmakers you want fines and fees REFORM!
We need your help! Let your representatives know that Fines and Fees reform is important to you, and you want to see legislation that eliminates fines and fees in the Oklahoma court system.
Did you know Oklahoma’s poorest citizens are funding our court system through fines and fees?
That means courts and police often won’t get paid unless they collect fines and fees from citizens. There’s no security for these systems. To meet increasing budget needs, courts have only increased their reliance on fines and fees.
This means Oklahomans are getting fined more and more often, making it harder to pay up and move on. And, police are spending more time collecting fines and fees drawing their attention from more serious and violent crimes.
The current structure hurts our courts, police, and citizens. Fines & Fees Reform seeks to fund courts and police through the state budget — like any other core function of state government.
94%
of the court system’s funding comes from fines and fees
30%
Fines and fees have increased nearly 30% since 2007
70%
of these fines and fees are never paid, resulting in compounding debt
$1.18 for $1
Studies show that in some counties for every $1 that is collected in fines and fees, $1.18 of taxpayer money is spent to collect it.
Rural Oklahoma counties are footing the bill
Expensive court fines and fees are a state-wide issue. They impact rural areas just as much, if not more, than urban areas.
In 2022, Rogers, Adair, Garfield, Pushmataha, Payne, and Roger Mills Counties all paid more in fines and fees per capita than Oklahoma's two most populated urban counties, Tulsa and Oklahoma.
Oklahoma’s courts are funded by charging users who can’t afford to pay. Yet, Oklahoma persists with this unfair funding structure.
HOW FINES AND FEES FUND OKLAHOMA COURTS AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS:
- Oklahoma courts and law enforcement departments start each year with only a rough guess on what they can expect for an operating budget.
- If the courts or police have a special project or need more resources, they're forced to find a way to extract more fines and fees from low-income Oklahomans who happen to find themselves in the court system.
- If those defendants can’t afford those fines and fees, police then issue arrest warrants. Oklahoma has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country.
- Police are forced to spend more time operating as collections officers and less time addressing actual public safety threats
What does this mean for Oklahoma?
More people are arrested and put in jail for failing to pay their debts, leading to separated Oklahoma families and more burden on the Oklahoma taxpayer.
Programs that actually reduce crime, like drug courts, don’t get the funding they need because of this broken funding model.
Judges, public defenders, and law enforcement often still don’t have the resources they need.
Hear from real Oklahomans whose liVES Were changed by fines and fees.
We can fix this by simply funding courts and police departments from the state budget.
Oklahoma's reported record revenue in 2021, and the fiscal year budget will appropriate more than $10 billion dollars.
This is how almost all of our other state agencies and departments exist.
“This requires us to look at all these agencies and say ‘Really, is this particular program or this little piece of your budget so critical that we need to keep arresting and jailing people for nonpayment?’"
Tell your representatives you agree with Sen. DANIELS — you want fines and fees REFORM!
