ORLANDO, FL — April 26, 2022 — The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC) plans to pay up to $100,000 to clear the fines and fees of dozens of Florida returning citizens (people with past felony convictions).

Hundreds of thousands of returning citizens in Florida still owe fines and fees associated with their past convictions. These financial obligations create barriers to voting, accessing opportunities, getting driver’s licenses, and more. In many cases, people have to choose between paying their fines and fees or putting food on the table. To mitigate this burden, FRRC is filling in the gap to keep people from making that impossible decision.

FRRC will participate in the Miami State Attorney Seal and Expungement & Second Chances events in Miami-Dade County on Thursday, April 28th, 2022. Nearly 70 people have been selected to have their fines and fees paid off and will receive their payoff notices at the event. The Seal & Expungement event will be held at the JL & Enid W. Demps Park, 11350 SW 216 Street in Miami, from 4 pm – 7 pm.

Estimates show that returning citizens owe more than a billion dollars to the state of Florida. By paying the fines and fees of returning citizens, FRRC is not just freeing the vote; they are also infusing much-needed revenue into Florida justice systems and governments. 

“Paying people’s fines and fees helps the entire community,” said FRRC Executive Director Desmond Meade. “It improves community reintegration, encourages civic participation, and allows individuals and families to move forward with their lives.”

With this latest payment, FRRC has paid the fines and fees of thousands of returning citizens in Florida, totaling millions of dollars. In 2018 FRRC led a historic victory with the successful passage of Amendment 4, a citizen initiative that restored voting rights to over 1.4 million Floridians with past felony convictions. Amendment 4 represented the single largest expansion of voting rights in the United States in half a century and ended a 150-year voting ban in Florida.