Illinois’ Criminal and Traffic Assessment Act (CTAA) prohibits the imposition of court fees, known as assessments, on indigent criminal defendants. In passing the CTAA, the Illinois General Assembly established that the court system should not be funded on the backs of indigent persons. However, it appears that prosecutors in Pike County have been skirting around this prohibition by categorically imposing assessments as a condition of every negotiated plea involving an indigent defendant. This practice not only violates the plain text of the CTAA, but also frustrates the law’s core purpose, which is to eliminate the unjust and potentially unconstitutional practice of levying assessments on those who are unable to pay.
Imposing assessments on indigent persons that are beyond their ability to pay seriously threatens equal access to justice. Doing so also increases individuals’ risk of recidivism since failure to pay assessments can impact credit scores, interfere with efforts to expunge or seal records, and lead to driver’s license suspension–impeding one’s ability to secure stable housing, employment, and transportation. In Pike County, many indigent persons who entered negotiated pleas unsurprisingly had trouble paying off their assessments, and were ultimately brought back into court on multiple payment review hearings and even probation revocation hearings. Sometimes, the court would extend the term of an individual’s probation just to give them more time to finish making payments. The result was a system that saddled indigent persons with burdensome fees and kept them ensnared in the criminal legal system due to their inability to pay.
In partnership with Pike County Public Defender Rick Zimmerman, MacArthur Justice Center wrote a bench memo directed to Pike County’s criminal court judge arguing why the imposition of assessments on indigent criminal defendants in the context of a negotiated plea agreement violates state law. In response to this advocacy, in June 2025 the Pike County State’s Attorney’s Office and criminal court judge agreed to begin granting assessment waivers for all indigent defendants, including those who enter negotiated pleas.
Circuit Court of Illinois, Eighth Judicial Circuit
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