The best estimate we have right now for how much debt our inmates, past and present, carry is something like $50 billion. That’s a huge number, but it’s probably not quite accurate, leaving out “pay-to-stay” policies which nickle and dime families. Help us start a massive study of how these policies affect your community.

For decades, the task of recouping the costs of mass incarceration has been left to state and local governments. They’ve been able to do it with the help of “pay-to-stay” policies that make sure inmates are hit on their way out, too. MuckRock has been surveying the states for their procedures and numbers, here’s a quick look at what’s come back.

Inmates in the criminal justice system accrue billions of dollars in estimated debt annually. We’re taking a look at the prison “pay-to-stay” policies responsible.