‘Debtors’ Prison’: Class Action Claims Montana’s Ravalli County Charges Unconstitutional Pre-Trial Supervision Fees

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A proposed class action alleges the Ravalli County (Montana) Sheriff’s Office operates an unconstitutional, revenue-driven discrimination scheme whereby pre-trial arrestees, the majority of whom are some of county’s poorest residents, are threatened with jail time if they’re unable pay certain fees upon which their pre-trial release is conditioned.

The 45-page lawsuit, filed on August 9 by attorneys from the nonprofit Equal Justice Under Law and Upper Seven Law, relays that when a judge imposes pre-trial supervision on a Ravalli County arrestee who, the suit stresses, has yet to be convicted of a crime, the individual is responsible for paying the costs of the court-imposed pre-trial supervision. These costs can include a GPS ankle monitor, twice-daily drug testing, breathalyzers, house arrest, curfews or other types of supervision, according to the case.

Per the suit, these so-called “pre-trial supervision fees” are set by the county without regard for an individual’s ability to pay them, and are often “far outside the financial reach of the indigent pre-trial arrestees who compose the vast majority of those who are brought before Ravalli County court,” the lawsuit says.

Comparing the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office to a “mafioso charging a ‘protection’ fee,” the lawsuit alleges the defendant’s pre-trial fees are essentially a ransom imposed without due process and under threat of incarceration. Indeed, pre-trial arrestees who are unable to afford the fees risk facing additional criminal charges and often “sit in jail longer” simply because they are “too poor to pay whatever price tag Defendant imposes on their freedom,” the case scathes.

All told, the lawsuit claims the defendant’s “pay-to-get-out-of-jail process” is unconstitutional and contrary to public policy, and essentially allows the sheriff’s office to tack its operating costs onto the backs of some of Ravalli County’s poorest citizens without due process:

According to the lawsuit, those who are arrested in Ravalli County are typically released only on bail, the purpose of which is to “honor the presumption of innocence” and allow a defendant to prepare their case before trial. On top of bail, however, Ravalli County judges often impose pre-trial supervision as a condition of release, the cost of which is “arbitrarily and capriciously” set by the county’s sheriff’s office without regard to an arrestee’s ability to pay, the suit alleges.

While the imposition of bail is subject to “stringent due process requirements,” the defendant’s pre-trial fees, which can exceed hundreds of dollars a month, “carry no procedural protections whatsoever,” the filing states. Moreover, the pre-trial fees, unlike bail, are indefinite and continue to be assessed every month until the individual’s case goes to trial, which could be pushed out for months or even years after their arrest due to circumstances outside their control, the suit says.

The plaintiff, for example, a homeless Ravalli County resident whose case has been in pre-trial status for over a year, has been charged more than $5,000 in pre-trial fees, with more charges accumulating each day, according to the suit. Per the case, the fees have the effect of discouraging pre-trial arrestees, who are presumed innocent, from exercising their constitutional right to present a defense at trial, and instead pressure them to plea in an effort to end “the exorbitant and burdensome” fees, the complaint says.

The lawsuit stresses that an individual working full-time at Montana’s minimum wage of $8.75 per hour and placed on pre-trial supervision with a GPS ankle monitor would initially be forced to pay $570—including $105 for one month of supervision, $390 for GPS ankle monitor fees and a one-time $75 administrative fee for the monitor—on top of bail, just to be released from jail. Thereafter, the individual would be charged $495 per month in pre-trial fees, which would exceed 35 percent of their income, the suit explains. Taking into account the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in Ravalli County’s largest city, the hypothetical pre-trial arrestee would barely have enough to live on, the case attests:

The suit contends that because arrestees who are unable to pay pre-trial fees are incarcerated as a consequence, the defendant’s practice of charging such fees essentially creates an unconstitutional debtors’ prison.

“Despite the exorbitance of these fees, at no point does Defendant consider pre-trial arrestees’ ability to pay before imposing these fees or before threatening jail time for non-payment, effectively criminalizing pre-trial arrestees’ poverty,” the complaint summarizes.

The lawsuit seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction to stop the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office from charging pre-trial fees, and requests damages for the allegedly unconstitutional fees proposed class members were forced to pay.

The case proposes the following class and sub-class:

The full complaint can be read below.

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