Can a Mississippi municipal court judge wipe out unpaid fines if a defendant finishes a GED or workforce class?
Plain-English summary
A Hattiesburg municipal court judge wanted to set up an arrangement with a local junior college: defendants with unpaid fines could finish a GED or workforce-development class and get their fines and costs wiped out. The judge asked the AG whether that was lawful.
The AG said it works, but only if framed as a suspension, not a forgiveness. Miss. Code Ann. § 21-23-7(5) lets a municipal judge, after the original sentence is in place, "suspend sentence and . . . suspend the execution of a sentence, or any part thereof, on such terms as may be imposed by the municipal judge." Two conditions attach: the original judge had to have had the power to suspend at the time of sentencing, and the conviction either was not appealed or any appeal was voluntarily dismissed.
The opinion drives home a distinction the AG has insisted on for years. A court cannot grant amnesty or "forgive" old fines, because that would be an unlawful donation under Mississippi Constitution Article 4 § 66. But suspending a portion of a fine on conditions, such as completion of a class, sits inside the statute and is allowed.
Two practical limits. First, the practice is limited to misdemeanors. Felony cases are out. Second, even when fines are suspended, the state assessment under § 99-19-73(9) survives. That assessment "may not be suspended or reduced by the court." The state's cut stays.
What this means for you
If you are a Mississippi municipal court judge
You can build a structured class-completion track for unpaid misdemeanor fines, but write the orders as suspensions of execution, not forgiveness. A clean form looks like: "Defendant's previously imposed fine of $X is suspended on the condition that defendant enrolls in and completes [specified GED or workforce class] within Y months. State assessments under § 99-19-73 remain due and are not suspended." Set a review hearing on the docket. If the defendant completes, sign the order finalizing the suspension. If not, lift the suspension and proceed under your existing collection mechanisms. Keep the policy and procedures in the clerk's office, as the judge here proposed, and apply them consistently across similar cases.
If you are a defendant with unpaid fines
This opinion gives a Mississippi municipal court a path, not a guarantee. The judge has discretion to refuse, the program has to fit within the rules above, and the state assessment is not waivable, so even after a successful class some money is still owed. If your case has been appealed and the appeal is still pending, the judge cannot suspend until the appeal is dismissed or resolved.
If you are a city attorney or prosecutor
Watch the order language. Resist orders that say "fines forgiven" or "amnesty granted," because those run into the donation prohibition. Frame everything as a suspension under § 21-23-7(5) on stated terms. Make sure state assessments are not bundled into the "suspended" amount.
If you run a community college or workforce-development program
A municipal court referral pipeline works only if the program meets whatever conditions the court spells out. Build in attendance verification, completion certificates with court-friendly language, and a contact person at the court for status updates. The opinion deliberately does not approve any specific program structure, only the legal mechanism. The court is the gatekeeper for what counts as completion.
Common questions
Q: Why can a judge suspend fines but not forgive them?
A: Forgiving a fine that has already been adjudicated transfers a public asset (the unpaid debt) to a private person. Mississippi Constitution Art. 4 § 66 forbids that as an unlawful donation absent legislative supermajority. Suspension under § 21-23-7(5) avoids that problem because the court is exercising a sentence-modification power the legislature granted; the fine has not been written off, it has been conditionally not enforced.
Q: Does this work for felony cases?
A: No. § 21-23-7 is a municipal court statute, and municipal courts handle misdemeanors. The opinion is explicit that it is limited to misdemeanors and offers no view on related programs in higher courts.
Q: What is the state assessment that cannot be suspended?
A: § 99-19-73 attaches a series of statutorily fixed assessments to convictions for traffic offenses, criminal offenses, and game and fish offenses. The money flows to a list of state funds. Subsection (9) protects those assessments: "no state assessment imposed under the provisions of this section may be suspended or reduced by the court." Even when the underlying fine is suspended, the assessment is owed.
Q: Can the judge use this to clear out a backlog of years-old unpaid fines?
A: Only if the original judge had the authority to suspend at the time of sentencing and the case meets the appeal condition in § 21-23-7(5). The Curry opinion expressly cites the older Barton and Nowak opinions for the rule that the court "cannot grant amnesty or forgive or discount old fines." A blanket amnesty for an entire docket is not what § 21-23-7(5) authorizes; case-by-case suspension on conditions is.
Q: What conditions can a judge attach?
A: The statute says "such terms as may be imposed by the municipal judge." Class completion, community service, payment plans, sobriety conditions, employment-search milestones, and similar tied-to-rehabilitation terms are common. The opinion declines to endorse any specific condition; it just confirms the legal mechanism.
Q: Does this require a new statute or city ordinance?
A: No. § 21-23-7(5) already supplies the authority. A city can choose to memorialize a court program by ordinance or court policy, but the statutory power is in place.
Background and statutory framework
Two competing constitutional and statutory ideas run through Mississippi sentencing. The donation prohibition (Art. 4 § 66) and the related extra-compensation prohibition (Art. 4 § 96) restrict the state and its political subdivisions from giving away public money or value. A simple "we forgive your fine" would put a city sideways with that prohibition.
But the legislature has consistently authorized courts to manage their own sentences. § 21-23-7(5) is the municipal-court version of that authority. Read together with the donation prohibition, the law lets a court manage outcomes through suspension on conditions, not by writing off debt outright.
§ 99-19-73 is a separate statute that funds a series of state programs through assessments tacked onto convictions. The legislature deliberately walled those assessments off from judicial discretion, so that local sentence modification does not drain the funded programs. § 99-19-73(9) is the wall.
Citations
- Miss. Code Ann. § 21-23-7(5) (municipal judge authority to suspend sentence post-imposition)
- Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-73(9) (state assessments not subject to suspension or reduction)
- Miss. Const. Art. 4, § 66 (prohibition on donations)
- MS AG Op., Nowak (Aug. 26, 2011) (suspension allowed; amnesty not allowed)
- MS AG Op., Barton (Mar. 19, 2010) (court cannot forgive or discount old fines)
Source
- Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
- Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/W.Curry-August-25-2022-Forgiveness-of-Fines-and-Costs.pdf
Original opinion text
August 25, 2022
The Honorable Wes Curry
Municipal Court Judge, City of Hattiesburg
200 West Pine
Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39401
Re:
Forgiveness of Fines and Costs
Dear Judge Curry:
The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion.
Background
You provide in your request that your municipal court has defendants with substantial amounts of
unpaid fines and costs, many of whom are simply unable to pay the fines and costs and/or quit
paying them because they are unable to find consistent employment. You say that your court has
been in discussions with a local junior college as to whether it could provide free classes, such as
GED and workforce development classes, to some of the defendants in your court in order to have
their fines and costs suspended upon completion. You provide that you would do this by setting a
defendant's case for review at a hearing, and at the hearing, you would amend the sentence so that
the fines and costs may be forgiven on the condition that they complete such a class. Further, there
would be policies and procedures, recorded in the clerk's office for public review, setting out the
guidelines of what cases would qualify for the program.
Question Presented
May a municipal court suspend or forgive fines and costs previously adjudicated by the court on
the condition that the defendant attend and complete a GED class or workforce development class?
Brief Response
A municipal judge is authorized to suspend fines in misdemeanor cases upon such terms as may
be set by the court.
Applicable Law and Discussion
Mississippi Code Annotated Section 21-23-7(5) provides, in relevant part:
Subsequent to original sentencing, the municipal judge, in misdemeanor cases, is
hereby authorized to suspend sentence and to suspend the execution of a sentence,
or any part thereof, on such terms as may be imposed by the municipal judge, if (a)
the judge or his or her predecessor was authorized to order such suspension when
the sentence was originally imposed; and (b) such conviction (i) has not been
appealed; or (ii) has been appealed and the appeal has been voluntarily dismissed.
This office has previously concluded that subsequent to original sentencing, Section 21-23-7(5)
authorizes the municipal judge to suspend fines on such terms as may be imposed by the municipal
judge. MS AG Ops., Nowak at 1 (Aug. 26, 2011) and Barton at 1 (Mar. 19, 2010). "As stated in
Barton the court cannot grant amnesty or forgive or discount old fines as this would amount to an
unlawful donation pursuant to Article 4 Section 66 of the Mississippi Constitution. However, by
following the provisions of Section 21-23-7 (5) the court is suspending a portion of the fine which
is authorized." Nowak at *1. Therefore, so long as the cases in which the municipal judge seeks to
suspend the fines are limited to those that involve misdemeanors and those that comply with the
additional conditions provided in Section 21-23-7(5), it is our opinion that a municipal judge is
authorized to suspend the fines at the court's discretion and upon its imposed terms. We limit this
opinion to the ability of the municipal judge to suspend fines in accordance with Section 21-23-7(5) and offer no opinion on any related program or condition a municipal judge might
contemplate.
Please note, however, that Section 99-19-73(9) further provides, "[i]f a fine or other penalty
imposed is suspended, in whole or in part, such suspension shall not affect the state assessment
under this section. No state assessment imposed under the provisions of this section may be
suspended or reduced by the court."
If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL
By:
/s/ Abigail C. Overby
Abigail C. Overby
Special Assistant Attorney General