Legal Question in Criminal Law in Oklahoma

Re: Being arrested after not paying a fine

If you literally cannot pay your fines, they will have a hearing on your ability to pay. If you can prove that you cannot pay, they cannot put you in jail for failure to pay. Good luck.

Chad

Re: Being arrested after not paying a fine

Don't let anybody fool you, the fact that you do not make the payment of fines a priority after your release is not the same as being "unable to pay". Depending upon what judge you find yourself in front of, you could be sent to county jail under the contempt powers of the court. Then you may be left without funds to appeal the judges improper decision about whether you "willfully and contumaciously" failed to pay your fines. End result -- your in jail. Just because a judge "should not" throw you in jail does not mean that the judge "cannot" do it. The earlier posted response to you by other counsel, in my experienced opinion, was cavelier and too shallow to advise you of your real risks. By all means, you must pay everything you possibly can (and ALWAYS something every paycheck) toward your fines and costs after imprisonment to avoid further potentially harsh treatment by the court.