Juvenile Fees in Nevada Juvenile Monetary Sanctions Fees

Juvenile Fees in Nevada

Juvenile Monetary Sanctions Fees Fines Recoup costs victims Punish & deter Restitution Help

Juvenile Fees Nationally

The Nevada Context THE ANNIE E. CASEY FOUND. , 2018 KIDS COUNT DATA BOOK: STATE TRENDS IN CHILD WELL-BEING (2018) Kenny Guinn Ctr. for Policy Priorities, The Costs of the Nevada Juvenile Court System on Youths and Their Families (2016) NEVADA ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE U. S. COMM’N ON CIVIL RIGHTS, MUNICIPAL FINES AND FEES IN THE STATE OF NEVADA (2017)

Discretionary Juvenile Fees • • Cost of care (§§ 62 B. 110 -140, 62 E. 540, 63. 540) Care and treatment (§ 62 E. 280) Court program fees (§§ 62 C. 210, 62 E. 210) Court costs (§ 62 E. 300) Appointed counsel (§ 62 D. 030) Treatment and evaluation (§ 62 E. 620) Coroner’s program (§ 62 E. 720)

Low Revenue 2017 & 2018: • DCFS (state) = <$8, 000/year • Clark County = <$25, 000/year • Lyon County = <$2, 000/year

Racial Disparities Youth by Race in Nevada, 2017 (rate per 1, 000 youth) 37. 9 Black White 22. 0 11. 1 Arrest 6. 1 County Detention 1. 8 0. 3 State Confinement Source: Nevada Juvenile Justice Programs Office (2017) • 2017: Black youth were >3 timesmore likely than White youth to be arrested and placed in county detention • 2017: Black youth were 6 timesmore likely to be confined in a state facility

High Harm Nonpayment of fees can lead to: • • • Collection actions (§ 62 B. 420) Negative credit scores (§ 62 B. 420) Contempt of court (§§ 62 E. 040, 62 B. 120, 420) Driver’s license suspension (§ 62 B. 420) Prevention of record sealing (§ 62 H. 130) Criminal liability (§ 62 E. 040)

Probation Administrator’s Views Resources From my experience, we spend a lot of money on postage and clerical time trying to collect money, resulting in very little revenue for our City and Department. At some point, it becomes a waste of time and resources. -Dr. Ali Banister, Carson City Chief of Juvenile Services

Probation Administrator’s Views Outcomes The families who are assessed juvenile fees are struggling enough, and we do not need to add to their burden. With my experience in the field, families cannot afford these fees. Given that, they can negatively affect youth outcomes. -Heather Plager, Elko County Chief Juvenile Probation Officer

Probation Administrator’s Views Youth first In dealing with kids, relationships come first. The fees color those relationships with the kid and with the families. We don’t want the decision-making process to be what is this going to cost me, instead, we want it to be what will benefit the child and get a kid to change their behavior. -Eric Smith, Lyon County Chief Juvenile Probation Officer

Probation Administrator’s Views Best practices I don’t care if the fees generate revenue; they’re just not part of our practice. Fees cause undue harm to struggling families—we have better ways of getting their attention than hitting their pocketbook. -Jack Martin, Director, Clark County Dept. of Juvenile Justice Services

National Calls to Action

Other Jurisdictions Philadelphia ends practice of billing parents for the time their children spend in detention Monitoring equipment fees for children go away Dane County budget amendment eliminates fee for juveniles held in detention center California Ends Practice of Billing Parents for Kids in Detention New Orleans becomes first city in South to axe court fees for delinquent youths

Questions? Savannah Reid Policy Advocacy Clinic Law Student sreid@clinical. law. Berkeley. edu (702) 544 -2047 Jeff Selbin Policy Advocacy Clinic Faculty Director jselbin@clinical. law. Berkeley. edu (510) 643 -1076 Jared Busker Children’s Advocacy Alliance Associate Director jared. busker@caanv. org (775) 440 -1767