Release from prison can feel like a relief. It is a chance to reunite with family, friends and start rebuilding a life on the outside.
It is also a time of anxiety as former inmates come to grips with the need to start paying off their court costs, fees and fines that often amount to thousands of dollars.
“The way that Oklahoma court systems work is a very large portion of the everyday cost for the district courts is paid by defendants paying back their criminal costs and fines, that’s their budget, basically, and so you have to pay to be prosecuted,” said Oklahoma Legal Aid Attorney, Katie Dunning. “It’s typically thousands of dollars. Even just for one charge, you get hit with a fine, plus court costs and fees, supervision fees if you owe restitution. It all adds up. And typically, when a woman is coming out of prison, they owe thousands upon thousands of dollars back to the county they were prosecuted in.”
Lisa Lyons Lisa Lyons grew up in Tulsa. She started using drugs during her teen years. Over time it escalated.