Black households are disproportionately burdened by fines and fees in the criminal legal system, according to a research brief from the Urban Institute.
The Urban Institute’s national Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey from 2024 revealed that Black adults faced fines and fees at higher rates than other adults. In 2024, some 24 percent of Black adults ages 18 to 64 reported that someone in their household had been assessed or owed a fine or fee, compared with 18 percent of White adults, 20 percent of Asian adults, 21 percent of Latine adults, and 19 percent of adults of other races. Black households were also the most likely group to face traffic or parking tickets, and Black households were twice as likely as White households to have been assessed court- or incarceration-related costs, which often carry larger financial burdens and severe consequences for nonpayment.
Among adults who had been charged fines or fees in 2024, nearly one-quarter reported owing money for unpaid fines or fees from that year or previous years. That percentage was significantly higher for those who had incurred court- or incarceration-related fees (55 percent), as well as those with lower family incomes (71 percent).
Furthermore, a quarter of respondents whose households had been charged fines or fees in 2024 said they were not confident they could come up with $400 for an unexpected expense. Among those respondents, 27 percent had been charged fines or fees exceeding $500.
For Black adults with unpaid fines, fees, or court costs, one in six reported owing $1,000 or more. Black adults with fines and fees burdens were more likely than their White counterparts to report food insecurity and problems paying their housing, utility, and medical bills.
Notably, the vast majority of Black adults who had been charged a fine or fee in 2024 or owed fines or fees from previous years received no support from public officials. Only 5 percent said court or government staff had asked them if they could afford the costs. Additionally, some 10 percent of Black adults with any fines or fees burdens in 2024 reported being offered meaningful options to afford those costs, such as reductions, waivers, community service, or a class or social services program.
“Prior research shows that people with court debt are more likely to be turned down for credit, and also more likely to be approved for less credit than they were seeking,” Tim Curry, policy and research director at the Fines and Fees Justice Center, told the Urban Institute. “Further, wage garnishment from unpaid fines and fees creates problems with people’s incomes and with their employers, it can get harder to get promoted or to retain your job. If you have to sell your house, it can get even harder to get another one. And so people pay their fines and fees to the court at the expense of their other basic needs to avoid the consequences of nonpayment; they prioritize this debt against other debts. It’s a vicious cycle.”
