Mapping the Texas Shadow Carceral State: County Level Variation in the Collection of LFOs

• In Event: Poster Session II

Abstract

Modest decreases in the Texas state prison population have fueled a rhetoric of Texas being a model for decreasing incarceration nationwide. What this rhetoric ignores is that traditional forms of punishment have expanded into civil and administrative legal bodies leading to the proliferation of what is commonly referred to as Legal Financial Obligations. This study uses data from the Texas Office of Court Administrators to examine the distribution of LFOs in Texas. Results show that more conservative counties, counties with higher Latino populations, and counties with more growth in their Black populations collect more fines and fees suggesting that politics and race are important factors in the collection of LFOs.

Author

• Llya Slavinski, University of Texas- Austin