AB 618: Payment options for criminal fines and fees.

Existing law requires a court to charge various fines, fees, penalties, and assessments for criminal defendants, including fines assessed as a penalty for a crime, restitution fines, and fees for the support and maintenance of the courts, as specified. Existing law permits a judgment against a criminal defendant that orders the defendant to pay a fine, other than a restitution fine or order, to also direct that the defendant be imprisoned until the fine is satisfied, as specified. Existing law authorizes a court to sentence a person convicted of an infraction to perform community service in lieu of the total fine, as defined, that would otherwise be imposed, upon a showing that payment of the total fine would pose a hardship on the defendant or the persons family.

This bill would require the court to offer a payment plan to a criminal defendant who has been assessed fines, fees, penalties, and assessments in an amount over $500, other than a restitution order payable to the victim, resulting from a criminal prosecution on or after January 1, 2022, and would authorize the court to offer a payment plan under those circumstances to a defendant who has been assessed fines, fees, penalties, and assessments of $500 or less. The bill would require the court to allow a defendant to pay those fines, fees, penalties, and assessments with a credit card, as specified. The bill would specify that these provisions do not prohibit a court from converting a fine to jail time or community service, or otherwise limit the courts ability to consider a defendants ability to pay without undue hardship. The bill would require the Judicial Council to adopt Rules of Court to implement these provisions.