As a fun anecdote, I was sentenced to house arrest during COVID (after serving a short county jail sentence) and all of the fees were actually waived, by order

As a fun anecdote, I was sentenced to house arrest during COVID (after serving a short county jail sentence) and all of the fees were actually waived, by order of the governor, due to COVID IIRC. My experience is that this is seldom granted on request barring extenuating circumstances i.e. COVID, jail capacity, etc, and your convictions needs to be strictly non-violent otherwise. That said, at least in California the jails and prisons are very overcrowded leading to many unqualified individuals being offered house arrest after serving short stints in custody.