Can Unpaid Probation Fees Extend an Inmate Release Date?
My fiancée is an inmate at Hunts Correctional Center. He is supposed to be released 1-17-16, but now they r saying he may have to stay for another 3 months for probation fees that he didn't pay when he first got charged. How can they do that?
It is legal if the judge built it into the original sentencing order. This is more common than most people realize. When a judge sentences someone and there are fines or supervision fees attached, the sentencing document sometimes includes a provision that ties early release or a specific release date to payment of those amounts. If that language is in his order, then failing to pay the fees before his release date gives the court or the facility the authority to hold him for the additional period outlined.
The key is what the actual sentencing document says. If that provision is in there, they are following the judge's original instructions. If it is not clearly stated in the order, that is grounds to push back and have his attorney review it immediately.
If there is a financial hardship behind the unpaid fees, that is also worth raising formally through his attorney. Courts do sometimes have provisions for payment plans or indigency determinations that can resolve a hold like this without the full three months being served. That is not guaranteed, but it is worth exploring before resigning to the extended stay.
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