“Rural/Urban Differences in Who Pays Criminal Justice Debt in Oklahoma”

• In Event: Race, Social Structure, and Collateral Consequences

Abstract

Researchers have documented the deleterious effects of legal financial obligations (LFOs) for individuals, families and communities. We know that women (particularly mothers, wives and grandmothers) bear a disproportionate burden of paying LFOs but we know less about their rural vs. urban differences. As sentencing is done at the county level, and thus LFOs are assigned at the local level, we assess the extent to which rural/urban differences occur in who pays legal financial debt. Using self-report data from a statewide survey of Oklahoma residents with oversamples of rural residents, we investigate if rural/urban and gender differences exist in paying on legal financial debts and assess potential individual and community mediators of these relationships.

Authors

• Constance Chapple, University of Oklahoma

• Trina Hope, University of Oklahoma