Can You Go to Jail for Not Paying Restitution

Tin I Become to Jail for Not Paying Restitution?

You were ordered to pay restitution at your sentencing hearing and you haven't washed it, so you're scared yous will go to jail. And y'all may, although there is a process and a prosecutor will accept to prove a willful failure to pay in order to punish you for this.

In some criminal cases, restitution is ordered as part of sentencing, whether after a trial verdict or in a negotiated resolution. Paying restitution is oft made a condition of probation, for example. Permit's have a wait at how restitution arises and what happens if you practise not pay.

Paying Restitution

Restitution is ofttimes made a condition of probation every bit a way to proceed a accused on the hook for failure to pay, although this may vary from state to state. Say you were ordered to pay restitution as part of probation, then in that location is probably a set amount yous must pay on a monthly or other regular footing.

Restitution goes to victims, non to the state, and when y'all practise not pay it, your probation officeholder will probably event a violation. A probation violation hearing is not like a trial -- the burden of proof on the prosecution is lower than at trial. But it also not automatic -- your officer cannot just decide yous have violated and transport you to jail.

A notice of violation volition be sent to the prosecution and the state will accept to prove that you willfully did not pay. That ways if you lot cannot pay, you lot cannot be violated but if y'all choose not to pay, you will exist punished. At that indicate if you lot are found to have violated, the gauge volition determine if and how to punish this. If restitution is the only basis for a violation, the court may decide that you should not be in custody then equally to non further disrupt your payment schedule.

Handling Restitution

If you are in trouble with your restitution payments, don't wait for probation to result a violation or the court to order a hearing. Brand contact with probation. Develop a relationship with your officeholder so that when something happens, they will give you a break and peradventure let you have a little extra fourth dimension to pay before issuing a violation.

Talk to a Lawyer

If you or someone y'all know has been charged with a criminal offense or has already been sentenced and is facing a probation violation for failure to pay restitution or fines, speak to a lawyer. Many criminal defense attorneys consult for free or a minimal fee and volition be happy to assess your state of affairs.

Related Resources:

• Browse Criminal Defense Lawyers by Location (FindLaw Directory)
• Can I Go to Jail for Not Paying a Loan? (FindLaw Blotter)
• Feeding Pigeons Means Fines and Jail Fourth dimension in NM Metropolis (FindLaw's Legally Weird)
• ACLU Challenges Secret Debtors Prison Organization in Ohio (FindLaw Blotter)

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Source: https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/criminal-defense/can-i-go-to-jail-for-not-paying-restitution/

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