Salt Lake City Justice Court accepts donations in lieu of court fines

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Court fines and fees are going to a good cause in Salt Lake City. The Salt Lake City Justice Court is allowing fines and fees owed to the court, to be paid off in donations to support COVID-19 relief efforts.

Two organizations were chosen — Shelter the Homeless and the Salt Lake Education Foundation — where people can donate instead of paying fines to the court. Both organizations are supported by the city and state, which is where that money would usually go.

James Yapias, Director of the Salt Lake Education Foundation, said the pandemic has been a particularly busy time for the organization, which supports students in the Salt Lake City School District.

“We’re seeing an increase of families needing more support," Yapias told 2News on Tuesday.

The organization started an emergency fund at the start of the pandemic to prepare for the increased need for food and services in the Salt Lake City School District.

“We see different families come in on a day-to-day basis. They’ve lost their jobs, or maybe they lost their business, and they need that extra support," Yapias said.

The foundations has helped more than 80,000 individuals since March. The emergency fund helps purchase food and supplies.

“We’ve had multiple businesses and individual donors who have contributed to making sure that we have the relief set up," he said.

Some of those donors have been sent from the Salt Lake City Justice Court, where Judge Clemens Landau issued a standing order allowing people to pay off fines and fees to the court by donating to The Salt Lake Education Foundation or Shelter the Homeless.

Landau said statutes allow judges flexibility to give credit for different things.

“I think that discretion goes up in a national emergency like the one we’re facing," he explained.

The standing order allows people to do community service as part of COVID-19 relief efforts in lieu of fines, and to pay off fines to these two charities instead of to the court. It also allows low-level offenders who can't report to jail to petition to serve home confinement instead.

Landau said it helps with the court backlog and getting people back on track "so they can get back to work when the economy opened up again."

Laurie Hopkins, executive director of Shelter the Homeless, sent KUTV a statement about the donations:

“Shelter the Homeless is thrilled to be named as one of the two organizations that are recipients of this donation in lieu court fines. We are very hopeful about this program since the donations will be used to directly support individuals experiencing homelessness in the homeless resource centers in Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake. The emergency sheltering community is honored by the longstanding relationship we have with the court and we commend the Salt Lake City Justice Court for this effort."

The standing order will be in place as long as this pandemic lasts.