MAKING CHILDREN PAY - THE HIDDEN COST TO KANSAS OF JUVENILE FEES AND FINES

Kansas Appleseed,

Kansas Appleseed and Juvenile Law Center co-authored the report “Making Children Pay - The Hidden Cost to Kansas of Juvenile Fees and Fines.” The report outlines the ways in which fees and fines are inefficient and costly to the public, undermine public safety by driving youth further into the system, and violate youth and families’ constitutional rights. 

The report explains that, based on comprehensive research and data gathered by Kansas Appleseed, youth fees and fines do not make fiscal sense. Kansas Appleseed gathered information from the Kansas Department of Corrections as well as local jurisdictions and counties across the state. They asked jurisdictions about what types of fees and fines they were collecting, how much jurisdictions were receiving in the collections process, and how long it was taking them. 

What we found was that jurisdictions have surplus funding available for the same purposes, and this funding more than makes up for the negligible amount collected in youth fees and fines. We also found that collections are a time consuming, unreliable source of minimal revenue for local jurisdictions. Given the proven harms associated with assessing youth fees and fines, the practice is not worth the cost to Kansans.
 

About the Expert

Jessica Feierman oversees Juvenile Law Center’s projects and programs. Feierman currently leads a national effort to end fines and fees in the juvenile justice system and is engaged in litigation aimed at eliminating solitary confinement and other abusive practices in juvenile facilities.

Alisa is a 2024-2025 Deane F. Johnson Fellow at Juvenile Law Center. She earned her Juris Doctor in 2024 from Stanford Law School. Alisa is passionate about working with and for young people who are navigating or impacted by legal systems.

At Stanford, Alisa was a Public Interest Fellow at the John and Terry Levin Center for Public interest and spent time mentoring law school students invested in public interest careers. Throughout law school Alisa also dedicated her time to working with individuals and families affected by the criminal legal system. She interned with the Federal Public