3. Instructions for Petition re: LFOs

If the offense was committed before July 1, 2000, AND it has been more than 10 years since you were released from total confinement or sentenced, whichever occurred later, you may be eligible to have ALL of your LFOs waived.

If the offense was committed after July 1, 2000, AND it has been more than 10 years since you were released from total confinement or sentenced, whichever occurred later, you may be eligible to have all of your LFOs EXCEPT restitution waived.

If you were convicted of Rape of a Child, which resulted in pregnancy, your case has special rules and you should contact an attorney.

You can find the date jurisdiction expires by reviewing your Judgment and Sentence and doing some calculations to figure out if it has been more than ten years since the date you were released.

DATE OF SENTENCING + LENGTH OF SENTENCE = APPROXIMATELY DATE OF RELEASE
*not factoring good time, if applicable

RELEASE DATE + 10 YEARS = JURISDICTION EXPIRATION
*Sometimes the court extends jurisdiction in specific circumstances for an additional ten years. You can contact the clerk’s office to see if this happened on your case.

Which box to check (on the petition)

▢ You should check the first box if it has been more than 10 years since you completed the jail/prison term imposed at your sentencing. If you were sent back to jail or prison for violating probation or community custody, this does not restart the 10-year period. If you have spent time in jail or prison in the Past 10 years, but it was not related to this conviction, you can still check the first box.

▢ You should check the second box if you were not sentenced to jail or prison time in this case. If you have spent time in jail or prison in the Past 10 years, but it was not related to this conviction, you can still check the second box.

▢ You should check the third box if it has been fewer than 10 years since you completed the jail/prison term imposed at your sentencing.

A. LFO Relief Available Regardless of Ability to Pay:

Anyone filling out this form may ask for relief in Part A.

▢ Collection: In case the court has sent your unpaid LFOs to a collection’s agency, there is no harm in checking this box even if you are unsure.

▢ LFO Interest: In 2018, courts were required to stop imposing interest on outstanding fines, fees, costs, and assessments and to waive any interest that accrued to date. This is separate from interest that accrued on outstanding restitution. If you are unsure if interest accrued on your fines and fees there is no harm in checking this box.

▢ DNA Fee: The court is required to waive the DNA fee if you make this request

▢ Restitution Interest After Payment of Original Amount Owed (Principal Balance): First, confirm you were ordered to Pay restitution on your judgment and sentence or separate restitution order. You should check the box in this section if you have paid off your restitution principal (the original restitution amount imposed by the court) and all that remains of your restitution obligation is interest.

B. LFO Relief Due to Inability to Pay (Indigence):

You can complete this section regardless of whether you completed Part A. However, you may only ask for relief in this section if you are unable to pay. To determine if you are considered unable to pay, review the criteria in Section 3 (Declaration of Inability to Pay (Indigence)). If you check one or more of the boxes in that section, you qualify as unable to pay.

▢ Waiver or Reduction of LFOs: Check this box to ask the court to waive all optional LFOs.

▢ Restitution Owed to an Insurer or State Agency: If you owe restitution to an insurance company or state agency (besides Labor & Industries or the Crime Victim’s Compensation Fund), you can check this box to ask the court to waive this. However, if you owe restitution to an individual or a private company or corporation, you cannot select this box.

▢ Restitution Interest After Release from Total Confinement: If you have not paid your principal restitution balance, but you did complete your jail or prison sentence for this case, you can ask the court to waive the interest accrued while you were incarcerated. The petition asks for the dates of your incarceration as evidence of completion. You should be able to calculate this using your Judgment and Sentence or asking your counselor or the legal liaison at your facility.

▢ Appellate or Other Case Costs: Check this box if you think you may have had LFOs imposed because of exercising your right to appeal.

You should complete this section if you completed the previous section 2(B). In order to give a full picture of your inability to Pay to the court, please check all boxes that apply to your life.

▢ I am receiving one of the following types of public assistance (RCW 10.01.160(3)(a)): Check all boxes that currently apply.

▢ I am homeless

▢ I have an acute, chronic, or serious mental illness

▢ Annual income of 125% or Less than the federally established poverty level: You can find the income limits (federally established poverty level) at https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/povertyguidelines;

▢ Annual income of 125% or more than the federally established poverty level: If you determined, using the above link, that you are above the 125%, please include a breakdown of your living expenses that makes you unable to pay the LFOs imposed.

▢ Manifest Hardship or compelling circumstances: This is a place to explain to the court why paying the remaining LFO balance creates a hardship that are not otherwise covered in this petition. Everyone’s situation is different. Examples could be upcoming large expenses, like a new child or an essential vehicle, or a scheduled surgery that will require you to be out of work for an extended period of time.

You should fill out this section if you might have LFOs remaining even if the court offers you the relief you have asked for in this petition. For example, if you owe restitution or a mandatory LFO, you may have LFOs remaining after the court rules on your motion. If you aren’t sure if you will have LFOs remaining, you can still fill out this section.

▢ Additional Time and Payment Plan: If you think you might be left with a remaining balance, it is recommended that you fill this section out to at least have your LFOs removed from collections and put back onto a Payment plan with the court. You can put any amount you think you would be able to reasonably pay a month.

▢ Community Service to Pay LFOs: Restitution is not eligible to be paid off through community service, but if the court does not waive all of the other LFOs, you can request to pay those off through community service, if it’s available.

▢ Protected Source of Income: If you are on any of these three protected sources of income, you can ask the court to stop collecting on any remaining LFOs. This means that the court will no longer bill you for your outstanding debt, if any remains. Outstanding mandatory LFOs or restitution will not be waived, but you will not be expected to pay the current balance.

▢ In addition to the relief requested above, I request that the court: This is an LFO petition, not a PRP, or an appeal. The purpose of this section is to provide space for special circumstances directly related to your ability to Pay LFOs that are not otherwise captured in the above sections.

Asking for relief outside the scope of this petition is not recommended.

You can ask the court to hold a hearing with you present or to decide this motion without a hearing. Please select either box A or box B, but not both. If you check box B, please check which type of hearing you would be able to attend.

You must serve a copy of this form and the form titled “Order re: Legal Financial Obligations” to the prosecutor. If your case is in Superior or District Court, the prosecutor will be the county prosecuting attorney’s office (for example, Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office). If your case is in municipal court, the prosecutor will be the city attorney’s office or a private firm contracting with the City (for example, Tacoma City Attorney’s Office).

• You can use the prosecutor cover letter template to explain what you are sending the prosecuting attorney and use the date that you mailed a copy to the prosecutor to finish filling out this form. 
• You can use the court cover letter template to explain what you are sending the court and what you want them to do with it. You will want to sent two copies of both the petition and order to the court.