Does Illinois have Debtors' Prisons?

Can you go to jail for owing a debt?

Most people will say, "No." Most people will be wrong.

Read this article from January in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Then go to the website of the Illinois Dept. of Professional Regulation (www.ildpr.com). Look under Agency Quick Links, and then click on Debtors' Prison.

As you read the St. Louis Post-Dispatch article, let your eyes linger over the words "body attachment".

Let's say you get stopped for a burned-out taillight. Pretty serious, eh? Well, usually you'll get a warning (unless you tell the cop you know me). However, if there is a warrant out for your arrest, you'll go to jail and your vehicle will get towed ($150 plus $40.00/day until you can afford to get it out of hock at the tow yard). And you'll get a ticket for the burned-out bulb, because the cop will have to justify why he stopped you in the first place.

Why might there be a warrant? Because some lawyer asked the judge for one. Does this happen?

A few months ago I was in a civil courtroom at the McHenry County Courthouse, and Attorney (and also State Rep.) Jack Franks was there on behalf of some of his clients. In case after case, the defendant was not present and Jack routinely threw out a request to the court for a "body attachment". And the court granted it.

The court never once asked about any prior efforts to contact the defendant and didn't look up to see if there were any prior no-shows. Jack asked for it, and the judge agreed.

Ka-ching, ka-ching...  Routinely, a $5,000 bail. Meaning a $500 bond for the person to get out of jail. Lawyers' fees. Loss of income (assuming the person was employed.)

Recently, I was asked for help on behalf of a woman who found her wages garnished by her employer. A payday loan company had gotten a court order against her. The problem? She had never made a loan from that payday loan outfit in Gilberts, Ill.

My suggestion was to contact the HR department of her employer. Her employer was legally bound to honor the court order about her wages, but her employer needed to immediately inform the court of the suspected error. And she needed to contact the State's Attorney, which she did (and where she got great help). The garnishment was quickly canceled.

The court action wasn't even in McHenry County, so that payday loan outfit must be headquartered in another county, maybe even downstate. They got scammed by someone who provided false identification (identity theft), and the woman here fortunately got off the hook without being arrested and jailed.

Perhaps judges will start asking lawyers why they so easily and nonchalantly ask for "body attachments". Maybe a $5.00 Certified Letter to the debtor would suffice. But that might knock out a $250 bill for a court appearance by the lawyer (which the creditor will just take onto the debtor's obligation, under the "fine print" in the contract).

What if they had to go and get jobs as armed security guards then?