Rep. Arnold has introduced HB 1049 concerning public safety fees imposed on convicted offenders. At the moment, the text of the bill is unavailable; and I’m going on the text of the bill.
It would allow a county to adopt an ordinance imposing a “public safety fee.” In such a county, the court in which a criminal defendant was convicted would impose the fee as, I imagine, part of the sentence. The fee would be between $50 and $200 and would be based on the defendant’s ability to pay.
Specifies that county public safety funds may be used only to provide funding for certain public safety programs and activities, including law enforcement systems, firefighting systems, emergency medical services systems, probation departments, community corrections programs, detention facilities, and medical and health expenses for jail inmates.
Unfortunately, criminal offenders typically consume a lot more public resources than they have available individually. It is a bit of a trick bag. The fees are justifiable. But, many times, it’s just another fee the criminal defendant can’t or won’t pay. These are typically people who weren’t that great at handling life in the first place. Add a conviction and a bunch of fees and other debts onto the pile, and, like as not, they’ll just give up even if they are inclined to straighten up. On top of that; or perhaps because of that, there are state court judges who are not terribly interested in enforcing payment of such fees. So, the fees can often be notional, rather than something that’s practically collectible.
This appears to be a subtle way of further punishing those who are poor. If I’m the son of some rich guy and I get busted for DUI, adding another $200 to my legal costs isn’t really a big deal because daddy is going to pay. However, if I’m some blue collar worker who is having trouble finding regular work and I get arrested for getting in a slobber-knocker at my local watering hole, $50 is a big deal to me.
The primary purpose of police is already revenue-sucking, and this idiotic bill only exacerbates policing-for-profit.
There is such an evil, small-minded and vengeful arrangement in Illinois. Even if someone is arrested and later found not guilty, the system keeps the cash, so guilty or not, you pay. All the comments so far are right on, because, as a rule, people who are arrested, and guilty or not, are not well-off, and may not have the resources to pay. This could add another layer of nastiness to police harassment, where police bust the “usual suspects”. This is also the sort of bill–once people find out what it is and what is going on–which is not likely to be repealed because of the mentality toward people who get in trouble with the law and society’s failure to appreciate that these folks are eventually released back into society: Just kick them enough to get even. It just becomes part of the court’s “doing business”and reflects society’s failure to develop a refined and helpful concept of justice.
I contacted Robert Wildeboer, Criminal Justice Reporter for WBEZ (public radio) in Chicago, and he confirmed that in Illinois, you pay a 10% “processing fee” when you post bond, which they keep whether or not you are guilty. So you paid a $10,000 bond and a $1,000 “processing fee” but you were found not guilty? It was your own darned fault to be arrested, so they keep the $1,000.
I’m originally from Gibson County; as of a few years ago, they have a similar process in place (but I think it’s limited to $50).