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Council Moves Forward with New Rules Governing Bail Forfeiture Collection Practices in Philadelphia City Courts

Official:Amending Title 19 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Finance, Taxes and Collections," by providing for standards for actions to collect bail forfeitures, under certain terms and conditions.

Sponsor: Councilmember Jones

Introduced: October 23, 2008

: Committee on Finance

public safety

No one voted on this bill

This bill was introduced in the 2008–2011 Council term and when that term ran out. The public record shows no committee vote and no floor vote at any stage, so no member of Council ever went on record for or against it.

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Plain-Language Summary

This bill sets standards for collecting bail forfeitures in Philadelphia, taking into account a defendant's financial situation and willingness to pay.

What This Bill Does

AI-written. Every figure is checked against the bill text.

The bill amends Title 19 of The Philadelphia Code as follows

The Law Department cannot take action to collect forfeited bail if it would impose severe financial hardship on the defendant or surety, unless the defendant or surety is unwilling to pay or the underlying offense justifies the action.
The Law Department may still take action to collect forfeited bail if the defendant or surety is unwilling to enter into a reasonable payment schedule.
The Law Department can still place liens on the defendant's or surety's property in the amount of the forfeiture or file reports of delinquencies with credit reporting agencies. 4.

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