# Jail money return **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 24, 2022, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735 "2022-06-24T11:55:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/1 "2022-06-24T11:55:42Z")
I don’t really want to get into the details other than I ended up in a jail in California. I had about $1,500 in cash after some Casino winnings. The sheriff’s officers of Placer County took the $1,500. Then gave it back in the form of a debit card which charges 2.50 a week maintenance fee. 0.95 just to use it and another fee just to check the balance. Oh, and another fee to activate it. Its called prestigelogin if anyone has heard of it. I want to make it abundantly clear that the Placer County Sheriff’s Office was incredibly respectful and polite but this thing seems sort of usury doesn’t it? Why could I not just get my cash back? I know it’s been a minute since I’ve been on this site and other than Rick, and Ed of course, I don’t recognize the moderators.I do really respect the opinion of everyone on here. And I know we’re not lawyers and doctors and all that but seriously doesn’t seem right to me and I have bigger legal problems than $2.50 but why do the poor always get punished? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/2 "2022-06-24T12:03:49Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > Why could I not just get my cash back? This was cheaper\* for them (because you’re paying for it). Instead of having someone on the county payroll worry about this, they outsource it to this leeching middleman and let you and all the other involuntary users pay for it instead. Someone got a gold star in their file when they signed the county up for this scam. \*Or at least sold that way when the presentation was made. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/3 "2022-06-24T12:16:56Z")
I’m surprised they didn’t do the civil forfeiture thing. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/4 "2022-06-24T12:16:57Z")
I’m sure that forcing you to pay for the debit card under those circumstances is illegal (IANAL), and they are counting on you never suing to get that money back. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/5 "2022-06-24T12:27:57Z")
What does that mean? ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/6 "2022-06-24T12:39:08Z")
I am lucky that I have the financial resources to deal with this. But what bothers me is that they didn’t return the money they took. And some Bank in Kansas city is reaping the benefits. And I’m sure State of California somehow getting a piece of it ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/7 "2022-06-24T12:39:29Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > What does that mean? > **[Civil forfeiture in the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United_States)** > > In the United States, civil forfeiture (also called civil asset forfeiture or civil judicial forfeiture) is a process in which law enforcement officers take assets from people who are suspected of involvement with crime or illegal activity without necessarily charging the owners with wrongdoing. While civil procedure, as opposed to criminal procedure, generally involves a dispute between two private citizens, civil forfeiture involves a dispute between law enforcement and property such as a pi ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/8 "2022-06-24T12:45:07Z")
I know it is not exactly an original subject. But I don’t like the way the justice system messes with the poor ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/9 "2022-06-24T12:48:35Z")
Okay my law knowledge is pretty minimal. But I thought they tossed that out like two Supreme Court’s ago ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/10 "2022-06-24T12:54:11Z")
For that to be possible you have to be both suspected of a crime or committing one ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/11 "2022-06-24T13:08:52Z")
Nope, the _property_ is. From the article. > civil forfeiture involves a dispute between [law enforcement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement) and _property_ such as a pile of cash or a house or a boat, such that the thing is suspected of being involved in a crime. There are no controls or requirements that law enforcement must prove the case. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/12 "2022-06-24T13:21:46Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > {…} But I don’t like the way the justice system messes with the poor Umm, I’m pretty sure, the law, in its majestic equality, makes the rich as well as the poor pay these fees. Not that this makes the situation, in general, more fair but it’s equally unfair for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/13 "2022-06-24T13:24:57Z")
Unfair equality is a pretty badass band name. But you’ve obviously not been in a jail ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/14 "2022-06-24T13:26:03Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Umm, I’m pretty sure, the law, in its majestic equality, makes the rich as well as the poor pay these fees. But the poor tend to be disproportionately in jail. And (paradoxically) possibly also carrying around large portions of their (minimal) net worth in cash, rather than on a card. Because part of being poor is limited access to financial services, including checking or savings accounts. So, yes, a rich man who gets arrested with all the money he owns in his pocket will end up in the same situation as a poor man, having all that money put on a card and subject to a fee. Just like a rich man sleeping under an overpass is just as likely to be swept up in a homeless camp sweep as a poor man doing the same. But, you know, they’d have to be sleeping under an overpass first. ---
**Author:** ![CardboardBoxx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardboardboxx/32/7079_2.png) [@CardboardBoxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CardboardBoxx)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/15 "2022-06-24T13:32:26Z")
It seems unfair to me. @Rack-a-Bones, what is the absolute minimum you could spend in fees, if you made each withdrawal as high as possible to minimise total fees? ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/16 "2022-06-24T13:34:18Z")
Of course there are, that’s the whole point of the third fourth and fifth amendments isn’t it? And maybe a couple I’m forgetting about Look I really respect those people who smacked me into the window of my car. I know they have a tough job. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/17 "2022-06-24T13:35:51Z")
But that is where you are so wrong there is so such difference between a rich man and a poor man like that. Money in the pocket is much different than knowing Governors and judges and stuff. I called three different bail bondsman and I didn’t get response cuz I don’t have an address. Try proving you’re a person without an ID ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/18 "2022-06-24T13:37:29Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > Of course there are, > that’s the whole point of the third fourth and fifth amendments isn’t it? > And maybe a couple I’m forgetting about > > Look I really respect those people who smacked me into the window of my car. I know they have a tough job. - The person is not being charged with the crime, the property is. The property wasn’t seized, it was arrested. That’s what the courts say when they uphold this shit. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/19 "2022-06-24T13:38:59Z")
You are not a lawyer. But that is some pretty bizarre thinking ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735/20 "2022-06-24T13:40:54Z")
I have a bizarre thing for reading legal documents. But I looked it up and crap you’re right [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-money-return/966735.md?page=2)