[Excerpts] 

Starla considered her options carefully — pay her fines from previous incarceration or pay for groceries and a place for her and her children to stay.
"It was either eat and have a place to lay my head or pay my tickets," she said.

(She) chose to pay for food and rent instead of her fines. Her choice set in motion a familiar cycle...after almost 10 years of incarceration...those unpaid fines and penalties were waiting for her upon her release — and they had multiplied to the tune of about $11,000 owed to three different counties.

The former inmate shared her story before the start of a free Fines and Fees Client Clinic hosted by Voices Organized In Civic Engagement, or VOICE, and Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma. Representatives of VOICE member organizations and Legal Aid teamed up to help Starla and other formerly incarcerated individuals fill out forms designed to help judges determine their ability to pay fines and fees from previous incarceration….

For Starla, the waived fines and fees in at least one of the counties she owed represented a step forward, part of the "second chance" she said she is hoping for after incarceration.…

(Ed) Wunch, with Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, said Legal Aid helped wipe out $2 million in debt in 2024 for people who had little to no means to pay fines and fees. As one of the people who helped train VOICE representatives at the recent workshop, Wunch said he welcomed the additional support they were destined to provide the formerly incarcerated….

Sister Diane Koorie, with the Sisters of Mercy/Mercy Associates, serves as chair of VOICE's criminal justice action team. She said she and her team had been working with leaders affiliated with the criminal justice system to determine what steps VOICE could take to offer effective help. She said she learned there was a significant gap between fines assessed and fines paid due to formerly incarcerated individuals' lack of resources….

Dick and Linda Clark, from St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Warr Acres, and Jene Cheek, from Joy Mennonite Church, were among the people who took the training.

"Some of the charges would appear unjust to most of us," Cheek said. "There are a lot of us who came and have concerns, so we want to do our civic duty to help."

[Photo Credit: The Oklahoman]

Fines and Fees are Obstacles for People Coming out of Prison. Here's How Other Oklahomans are Helping, The Oklahoman [pdf]