Rhode Island Family Life Center report
Analysis
This report recommends four central reforms to decrease unnecessary incarcerations for court debt: 1. Take ability to pay into account when assessing court fines and costs initially and throughout the payment plans. 2. Employ a variety of collection methods before resorting to incarceration. 3. Accept smaller bails from individuals picked up on warrants. 4. Reduce the maximum amount of time people are held in jail awaiting ability to pay hearings to 72 hours.