SB39 Summary

• Prohibits courts and the Department of Transportation from suspending a driver's license as punishment for nonpayment of fines, fees, costs, assessments, or restitution, and allows restoration of licenses suspended solely for nonpayment before the bill's enactment.

• Allows courts to consider a defendant's ability to pay before imposing fines, fees, costs, or assessments, and grants courts discretion to waive, suspend, or modify these financial obligations even if otherwise deemed mandatory.

• Prohibits courts from charging additional fees for late payments, periodic payments, or probation supervision of payments, and prohibits charging penalties or fees to cancel warrants issued for nonpayment.

• Requires state, county, and municipal law enforcement agencies and volunteer ambulance companies to calculate and publicly report the total sums received from fines, fees, costs, assessments, and restitution, disaggregated by offense type.

• Establishes the Criminal Legal System Imposed Debt Study Group to review the impact of court-imposed financial obligations on defendants and crime survivors, with findings due by January 1, 2020.