Families Over Fees (SB 824)

  • Status: Active
  • Position: Support
  • Bill Number: SB 144
  • Session: 2019-2020
  • Latest Update: May 23, 2019
A gavel next to a bill and a calculator

Summary

Right now, California law charges administrative fees to people who come in contact with the criminal justice system, including fees for public defenders, booking, mandatory drug testing and costs related to a person’s incarceration and probation supervision, like electronic monitoring.

These administrative fees — which can quickly add up to thousands of dollars — are not supposed to be punitive or restorative. They are supposed to help counties recoup costs. But they are essentially another form of punishment that disproportionately impacts communities of color and low-income communities, driving people deeper into poverty and further entangling them in the criminal system because people can’t afford to pay.

Families Over Fees Act (SB 824) will eliminate these fees and make sure California stops using the criminal justice system to generate revenue on the backs of California’s most vulnerable families.

Take action: Tell your legislator to support SB 824.

Bill Developments

August 21, 2020: Bill number changed from SB 144 to SB 824.
May 29, 2019: Passed the Senate
May 16, 2019: Approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee
April 24, 2019: Approved by the Senate Public Safety
January 18, 2019: Introduced

Authors:
Senator Holly Mitchel
Sponsors:
ACLU CA, ANWOL, ARC, East Bay Community Law, Ella Baker Center, Homeboy Industries, Insight Center for Community Economic Development, PolicyLink, SF Financial Justice Project, SF Public Defenders, YJC, All of Us or None, Western Center on Law & Poverty

Publications

Nov 19, 2019

Costs of Injustice: How Criminal System Fees Are Hurting Los Angeles County Families

People setting fire to a bill at a protest against criminal system fees

Related Issues

Economic Justice Criminal Justice and Drug Policy Reform View All Issues

Related Content

Publication
Nov 19, 2019
People setting fire to a bill at a protest against criminal system fees
  • Economic Justice

Costs of Injustice: How Criminal System Fees Are Hurting Los Angeles County Families

Court Case
Oct 15, 2019
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  • Economic Justice|
  • +1 Issue

Safuto v. City of Los Angeles

News & Commentary
Aug 01, 2019
a blank check in the background, a pen in the foreground
  • Economic Justice

California's Justice System is a Debt Trap

Erica Smith was making a fresh start. After being forced out of her home by domestic violence, she had spent the last three years cycling between homelessness and jail for petty offenses. But with the help of reentry organization Starting Over Inc., she finally secured stable housing and a job helping women who had experienced challenges like hers. She found community support in the Riverside chapter of All of Us or None. She was building a better life for herself and her daughter.
Press Release
Nov 19, 2019
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Report: Fees and Fines in L.A. County Exploit Poor Families

LOS ANGELES — Today, a coalition of community groups, impacted people, and advocates released a report, “Costs of Injustice: How Criminal System Fees Are Hurting Los Angeles Families,” documenting fees L.A. County collects using the criminal legal system and demanding it eliminate these fees.