A study from the Reason Foundation found that Alabama’s income from fines and forfeitures is below the national average.
The study by the think tank, which used data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, found that Alabamians paid $14.28 per capita as local governments collected $71.75 million in fines and forfeitures in 2020. Nationally, governments collected $9 billion in fines and forfeitures, with 20 states collecting $1 million or more.
New York was the worst state, with $69.60 per resident, followed by Illinois ($50.57) and Texas ($40.37). Connecticut was lowest at $2 per resident, followed by Nebraska ($2.02) and Kentucky ($2.50).
Alabama’s numbers were lower than all of its neighbors, with Georgia ($35.16 per capita), Mississippi ($24.93), Tennessee ($23.12), and Florida ($19.29).
The Yellowhammer State’s low per capita figure still didn’t mean there weren’t small towns that used fines and forfeiture to pad their revenues.
Reason researchers found that there were 176 municipalities nationwide that received 50% or more of their revenues from the practice.
One of those is Creola, which is located in far northern Mobile County. In 2020, the city raked in $261,000 from fines and forfeitures, which accounted for 73.1% of its revenues. That added up to $1,249 per resident.
White Hall in Lowndes County was the other Alabama town, with 50% or more of its revenue coming from fines and forfeitures. In 2020, the town collected $109,000 of its $209,000 in revenue from fines and forfeitures (52.1%).
Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
