He notes that there are more than 21,058 cases in which criminal fines have not been fully paid; the aggregate outstanding balance of unpaid fines in May 1984 amounted to nearly $132 million. The way criminal fines are imposed and collected in the Federal system is explained, and cases involving outstanding fines are divided into two categories. In one category of cases, collection efforts are virtually doomed from the outset, because the offender has few if any available assets and poor employment prospects. In the other category, the fines, or a substantial portion of them, are collectable, because the offender has significant assets or the ability to earn a steady, sizeable income. It is with respect to this second group of cases that the Justice Department can improve its collection efforts. Knapp suggests that the first set of solutions must come from the Justice Department, for they concern policy decisions regarding the priority placed on the collection of criminal fines. Second, the Government's ability to collect fines should be enhanced, and third, unpaid criminal fines should be collected in the same efficient manner as taxes owed to the United States. Three footnotes and tabular data on fine collections are provided.