When You Cannot Pay
42 Pa.C.S. 9730 — a hearing on whether the defendant is financially able to pay
The hearing. If a defendant defaults on costs, restitution or fines, the issuing authority may hold a hearing to determine whether the defendant is financially able to pay.
Without the means. If the defendant is without the financial means to pay immediately or in one payment, the court may provide for installments, or reduce or waive the costs or fines, considering the defendant's resources and the burden payment will impose.
Able to pay. If the defendant is able to pay, the court may order wage attachment, send the account to collection, or impose imprisonment for nonpayment as provided by law. A defendant whose account went to collection may request a new financial determination hearing.
Restitution to a victim, license holds for unpaid fines, and the constitutional rule against jailing someone only for being poor are not set out on this page. What a court will do in a particular case is a question for a licensed Pennsylvania attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- 42 Pa.C.S. 9730 — Payment of costs, restitution and fines, and the financial determination hearing
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Pennsylvania attorney.