'Fine Time' Bill Proposed by Baker Offers Alternative to Jail

BOSTON, MA – Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito proposed "fine time'' legislation on Tuesday designed to allow people a greater opportunity to perform community service rather than paying a fine or serving jail time for failure to pay the fine.

“Fine time” is the informal name for the process by which criminal defendants who fail to pay fines, fees and assessments may be jailed until their debt is paid. Providing the option to complete community service, rather than pay a fine, will create a fairer system where punishments ultimately better align with their crimes, Baker said in a press release.

“The ‘fine time’ legislation we filed will incarcerate fewer people for simply being unable to pay a fine, while ensuring that penalties are still repaid in a more timely fashion,” Baker said. “If enacted, this bill will improve the fairness of how fines, fees and assessments are administered for criminal defendants, while upholding our laws and the meaningful penalties associated with breaking them.”

In November 2016, the Senate Post Audit and Oversight Committee released a report entitled Fine Time Massachusetts: Judges, Poor People, and Debtors’ Prison in the 21st Century. The Committee’s report reveals that the present system lacks adequate procedural safeguards to protect individuals’ rights and leads to unjust outcomes. This legislation incorporates several of the Committee’s ideas and recommendations, Baker said.

“The current system for imposing fines or serving jail time is capable of negatively compounding a situation well beyond its original intent if an offender can’t afford to pay their penalty obligation,” Polito said. “We appreciate the hard work already done by the Senate Post Audit and Oversight Committee on this issue and look forward to working with our colleagues in the legislature to enact this law to make the system more fair for those involved.”

Should certain extenuating circumstances prevent a defendant from either paying a fine or completing community service, the law allows judges to grant waivers and establishes a procedural process for determining whether someone has the ability to satisfy the debt.

Under the proposed legislation, a judge may incarcerate a person only after a hearing and a written finding is issued demonstrating a defendant’s "willful choice" not to pay.

The legislation also ensures an attorney is provided for indigent defendants before a jail sentence is imposed.

Should a person be incarcerated for failure to pay a debt to the court, this legislation triples the daily rate to $90 per day from $30 per day, reducing the amount of time someone would need to serve.

“The Senate report confirms the disturbing persistence of ‘fine time’ in Massachusetts. Now comes the hard part: fixing the system,” said state Sen. Mike Barrett (D – Lexington).

“I’m pleased the governor and lieutenant governor agree that something needs to be done. I look forward to working with them very much,” he said.