Delaware House advances bill to allow fines and fees waived for indigent criminal defendants

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Legislation that would allow judges to waive certain fines and fees for low-income and indigent criminal defendants has passed the Delaware House.

House Bill 133, sponsored by state Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall, D-Rehoboth Beach, was approved by a 24-13 vote along mostly party lines. It was released from committee in May but is just now getting a floor vote.

Courts assess various fees, fines and restitution for people convicted of a crime. Some of those include a court security fee, victim’s rights fee, Transportation Trust Fund fee, Voluntary Ambulance Fund fee and a videophone fee. The bill does not remove the requirement that restitution must be paid to crime victims.

“What middle-class people would consider minor amounts of money can prove catastrophic to our low-income neighbors in Delaware,” Snyder-Hall said. “Even small misdemeanors can result in hundreds of dollars in total court debt.”

An amendment to the bill also would preserve the fee for the Victims Compensation Assistance Program and clarifies that judges can’t waive certain fees, including for violations for tolls and red light and speed cameras. It also deleted a reporting requirement.

Snyder-Hall said she removed the fees for tolls and traffic cameras because those cases are not heard by judges.

The bill allows judges to use their discretion to issue a waiver for the imposition of fines and fees when a defendant demonstrates financial hardship. Someone can demonstrate hardship by showing they rely on government social net programs such as Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It also creates a hearing process for anyone already sentenced to pay a fine or fee.

Judges would retain the ability to impose fines or fees, but would be required to spell out their reasoning in the sentencing order.

The bill’s fiscal impact is indeterminate. The Office of Management and Budget said the state currently has $14 million in outstanding unpaid debt from assessed fines and fees as part of a defendants’ sentencing. The state is assuming 40% of that could be waived. Gov. Matt Meyer’s recommended budget includes $5 million in order to cover the potential shortfall.

Meryem Dede, executive director of the nonprofit Tide Shift Justice Project, said that the outstanding amount would be higher had the courts not been writing off bad debt for years.

“You can’t get blood from a stone,” she said. “Our courts are able to write off fines and fees after sentencing, but they’ve been spending years tracking people down who never had the money to begin with.”

Dede said as a public defender, she represented people the court had already determined had a financial need. However, her clients would get hit with fines and fees, whether they could pay them or not.

“It’s not talked about a lot,” she said. “Quite obviously, my clients did not have the ability to pay. It really depends on the judge and if it’s a part of their practice to talk about it.”

According to the Criminal Legal System Imposed Debt Study Group’s 2023 report, more than $40 million has been written off as uncollectible since 2021. Restitution, which is financial compensation paid to victims, was only written off if the defendant was found to be dead. The report also shows that over a 10-year period, 33% of Court of Common Pleas and 41% of Superior Court cases never saw a payment.

Some state representatives expressed some concern about the loss of revenue to buckets of funding that help pay for some services, such as emergency services and court security.

“This creates inconsistency and unpredictability of funding for these state entities,” said state Rep. Bryan Shupe, R-Milford. “There may be $5 million inside of the budget, but like we said, we don’t really know what that price tag is going to be.”

The legislation now moves to the state Senate for consideration.