Delaware Fines and Fees Reform – HB133 needs your help!
HB 133 will give our courts discretion to not impose fines and fees at sentencing and creates a rebuttable presumption that fines and fees will not be imposed if a defendant receives public assistance (eg. Medicaid, SNAP, veterans’ benefits), is represented by a public defender, or is incarcerated. Currently, even when a defendant does not have the means to pay a financial assessment, courts are unable to waive certain fines or fees at sentencing.
For this bill to pass this year, it needs to get through all the following before June is over:
- House Committee
- House Floor
- Senate Committee
- Senate Floor
HB133 was successfully voted through its house committee, but has been sitting waiting for a house floor vote since 5/21. It will continue to sit unless legislators commit their support and move on it now. Tell your legislators that fines and fees reform can’t wait.
Want to read more about this work? Visit https://finesandfeesde.org/
