Legal Financial Obligations (LFO) Relief Program
Help reducing or eliminating the fines, fees, and court debt that follow community members for years after their criminal case. Washington's recent LFO reforms create new pathways; we walk alongside people using them.
Who it serves
Anyone in our service area carrying LFO debt from past or current cases — fines, fees, restitution, or court costs assessed at sentencing or accumulated since.
How it works
LFOs are the financial residue of a criminal case: a debt that compounds, blocks driver's license reinstatement, blocks credit, and quietly extends the punishment for years past any sentence. Washington has reformed this landscape in stages — 2018's Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 1783 ended interest on non-restitution court debt and barred discretionary costs against people who were indigent at sentencing (RCW 10.01.160); House Bill 1412 (2022) gave judges discretion to waive non-restitution LFOs for those who can't pay; and House Bill 1169 (2023) eliminated the crime victim penalty assessment and DNA collection fee, with the assessment waivable retroactively on motion. But using these reforms requires petitions, documentation, and court appearances most people don't navigate alone.
The program provides intake and review of a community member's outstanding LFO balance, helps prepare petitions for waiver, modification, or remission, and accompanies them to LFO hearings. We partner with the University of Washington Race & Justice Clinic on the cases that need direct legal representation.
Eligibility
Washington residents in our service area with outstanding LFO debt from a prior criminal case.
Outcome
Removed financial barriers to housing, employment, voting rights restoration, driver's license reinstatement, and credit access that LFO debt would otherwise create.
For most participants, this isn't a marginal benefit — it's the difference between having a future and remaining tethered to a closed case for the rest of their lives.