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]
- 2159
Cal. Penal Code § 1203.1(a). ↑
- 2160
See Cal. Veh. Code § 23645 (DUI offenses); Cal. Penal Code § 1202.5 (theft offenses). ↑
- 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). ↑