Missoula County opposes SB 297: Allow justice’s courts to suspend driver’s licenses for nonpayment of fines, that was up for hearing yesterday morning in the House Judiciary Committee. This bill gives justice and municipal courts the ability to suspend a defendant’s driver’s license for non-payment of fines. Not having a driver’s license in a rural area like Montana is a significant barrier to employment, which is counterproductive to the issue of non-payment of fines. Also, driving is a basic need for most households. If an individual is pulled over for driving without a license, that violation returns the individual to municipal and justice courts where their past legal matter is compounded by the addition of new charges. If we want to make headway on safely reducing the jail population and limiting the pathways that keep people in cycles of poverty, we should find other ways of holding people accountable to paying their fines and fees rather than undermine their ability to pay them.
Senator Olsen,
ReplyDeleteMissoula County opposes SB 297: Allow justice’s courts to suspend driver’s licenses for nonpayment of fines, that was up for hearing yesterday morning in the House Judiciary Committee. This bill gives justice and municipal courts the ability to suspend a defendant’s driver’s license for non-payment of fines. Not having a driver’s license in a rural area like Montana is a significant barrier to employment, which is counterproductive to the issue of non-payment of fines. Also, driving is a basic need for most households. If an individual is pulled over for driving without a license, that violation returns the individual to municipal and justice courts where their past legal matter is compounded by the addition of new charges. If we want to make headway on safely reducing the jail population and limiting the pathways that keep people in cycles of poverty, we should find other ways of holding people accountable to paying their fines and fees rather than undermine their ability to pay them.
Please oppose SB 297.