What should I know about court fines and penalties?

    Some fines and penalties can be ordered as conditions of your probation.[2159] (See PG. 662 for fines and penalties that are conditions of your probation.)
    Some fines and penalties are determined based on your ability to pay, which means the court must find that you can afford to pay the fine BEFORE imposing them.[2160] Others are imposed regardless of your ability to pay.[2161]
  1. 2159

    Cal. Penal Code § 1203.1(a).

  2. 2160

    See Cal. Veh. Code § 23645 (DUI offenses); Cal. Penal Code § 1202.5 (theft offenses).

  3. 2161

    Cal. Penal Code § 1202.4(c) (court not required to consider inability to pay restitution fine unless fine is greater than the statutory minimum); see also People v. Long, 164 Cal. App. 3d 820 (1985) (providing that the trial court did not err in imposing a criminal restitution fine without considering defendant’s ability to pay).