Section 27.17 Control of Payment or Default in Payment

• Library: Criminal Practice 2012 Supp

B. (§27.17) Control of Payment or Default in Payment

After the court determines the amount of the fine that a defendant must pay, the court is required to consider the burden that the payment of the fine will place on the defendant’s financial resources. The court cannot sentence a defendant to pay a fine in such an amount that the defendant will not be able to make restitution or reparation to the victim of the offense. The court also must not sentence the defendant to pay a fine in addition to any other sentence that is authorized by § 557.011, RSMo 2000, unless:

· the defendant has derived pecuniary gain from the offense; or

· the court believes the fine will deter such an offense from happening again or will correct the defendant in the defendant’s actions.

Section 560.026, RSMo 2000.

At the time the court sentences the defendant to pay a fine, it may also set a payment schedule that the defendant has to comply with. It cannot impose an alternative incarceration sentence at that time in case the defendant does not pay the fine as ordered. Section 560.026. It is only after the defendant has failed to pay the fine as ordered that the court may impose a different sentence. Section 560.031, RSMo 2000, authorizes the court to issue a warrant of arrest or a...