A study released earlier this month found that Alabama counties that increased criminal fines and fees also saw increases in their jail populations.
The study, published by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA), found that for every additional $100 a county assessed in cumulative criminal court fees, an additional 34 people per 100,000 population were incarcerated.
The study, reviewing data from all 67 counties in the state between 2011 and 2025, found that counties that increased fees by 1% saw a 1.75% increase in detention rates in their respective jails. Authors suggested “that court fee policy changes have measurable but limited impacts on overall jail detentions, and that larger fee increases produce larger effects.”…