Oklahoma courts will check whether defendants can afford court debts

Courts must offer a hearing to check whether a defendant can pay court debts. The rules cover Oklahoma defendants’ court fines, costs, fees, and assessments. They exclude payments to repay victims and payments made outside the court clerk’s office. The sentencing-time offer excludes cases covered by Section 983b. Courts may also decide ability to pay using a defendant’s written request or sworn statement. A defendant’s ability to pay cannot affect the sentence imposed. The law takes effect November 1, 2026. District and municipal courts must also provide a hearing when a defendant requests one.

Courts must forgive all or part of covered debts when defendants cannot pay or provide sufficient evidence that they meet a listed reason for presumed inability to pay. Debt relief excludes payments to repay victims and payments made to someone other than the court clerk. Presumed inability to pay covers government-recognized total disability, specified need-based aid, government housing subsidies, or income below 150% of the federal poverty level. Courts must apply the same percentage reduction to covered fines, costs, fees, and assessments. The law takes effect November 1, 2026.

Courts must decide ability to pay at hearings scheduled for overdue court debts. These hearings cover defendants who miss the full-payment deadline or have made no installment payment in the most recent 90 days. A defendant may give up this hearing only in open court after being told how the hearing process works. Defendants cannot be charged an additional fee for the summons. The law takes effect November 1, 2026. Courts must set a hearing within 10 days of the clerk’s notice, with the hearing within 45 days of the summons.