Plaintiffs in Lawsuit Targeting Abusive Pre-Trial Fees File for Class Certification

Last week, Plaintiffs filed for class certification in Evenson-Childs v. Ravalli County — a federal lawsuit challenging Ravalli County’s “Jail Diversion Program,” which extorts money from hundreds of individuals through pre-trial fees. In Ravalli County, pre-trial arrestees — who have not been found guilty of any crime — are required to pay pre-trial fees adding up to hundreds of dollars per month, no matter their income level. Jail time and threats of jail time are used to force pre-trial arrestees to pay, creating modern-day debtors’ prisons for those unable to pay these abusive fees. And, even if the arrestee is ultimately found innocent, they do not get their money back.

In moving for class certification, Plaintiffs Teri Evenson-Childs, Daniel O’Toole, Richard Churchill, and Keith Leonard ask to bring this lawsuit on behalf of all people who, like themselves, are subject to this unconstitutional scheme. Plaintiffs’ goals are to end Ravalli County’s pay-or-jail scheme and to refund the fees that the County unconstitutionally charged. All Plaintiffs were charged thousands in pre-trial fees without a conviction, even after the court found they could not afford a lawyer. All were threatened with jail time for not being able to afford these fees, and Plaintiffs Evenson-Childs, O’Toole, and Churchill were jailed for being unable to pay fees.

The suit was filed in 2021 by nonprofit law organization Equal Justice Under Law and Upper Seven Law, a Montana-based nonprofit law firm.

“If you are arrested in Ravalli County and have limited means, it is nearly impossible to pay these fees,” says Constance Van Kley, Litigation Director at Upper Seven Law. “The County’s policy flips the presumption of innocence prior to conviction and criminalizes poverty.”

Phil Telfeyan, Executive Director of Equal Justice Under Law, says, “Hundreds of individuals’ lives will be positively impacted by this case if the court rules in our favor of ensuring that money or lack thereof is never the reason that someone is incarcerated or threatened with incarceration in Ravalli County.”