Tennessee § 40-24-104 - Nonpayment of fines.

§ 40-24-104. Nonpayment of fines.

If the defendant fails to pay the fine as directed, or is unable to pay the fine and so represents upon application to the court, the court, after inquiring into and making further investigation, if any, which it may deem necessary with regard to the defendant's financial and family situation and the reasons for nonpayment of the fine, including whether the nonpayment was contumacious or was due to indigency, may enter any order that it could have entered under § 40-24-101, or may reduce the fine to an amount that the defendant is able to pay, or may direct that the defendant be imprisoned until the fine, or any portion of it, remaining unpaid or remaining undischarged after a pro rata credit for any time that may already have been served in lieu of payments, is paid. The court shall determine and specify, in the light of defendant's situation and means and of defendant's conduct with regard to the nonpayment of the fine, the period of any imprisonment in default of payment of the fine within the limits of the penalties for a Class C misdemeanor. Whenever a court orders a defendant to pay a fine, imposed as a result of a traffic violation, in installment payments, the court shall revoke the defendant's privilege to operate a motor vehicle in this state upon the failure of the defendant to comply with the order of the court. If the defendant's privilege to operate a motor vehicle has been revoked for the failure to comply with the court order, the privilege shall remain so revoked until the total amount of the fine imposed is paid. Acts 1972, ch. 729, § 2; T.C.A., §§ 40-3208, 40-3204; Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 113. Cross-References. Detention in municipal workhouse until fines and costs paid, §§ 41-3-104 , 41-3-105 . Inmates confined in county jails for nonpayment of fines working public roads, § 41-22-301 . Penalty for Class C misdemeanor, § 40-35-111 . Textbooks. Tennessee Criminal Practice and Procedure (Raybin), § 32.22. Tennessee Jurisprudence, 8 Tenn. Juris., Criminal Procedure, § 54. Law Reviews. Imprisonment for Nonpayment of Fines and Costs: A New Look at the Law and the Constitution (Paul M. Stein), 22 Vand. L. Rev. 611. Attorney General Opinions. Payment allocation, where defendant indigent, only as to costs or fines, OAG 98-099 (5/27/98). Collection of fines and court costs in general sessions criminal cases, OAG 06-135 (8/21/06).