TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A lawsuit is challenging Oklahoma's debt-collection system that routinely sends poor people to jail for failing to pay court fines and fees.

The federal lawsuit filed Thursday names the Oklahoma Sheriffs' Association, every county sheriff in the state and Aberdeen Enterprizes, a private collections company, the Tulsa World reported.

The lawsuit alleges constitutional violations in the collection of unpaid court fines and costs imposed by Aberdeen Enterprizes and the Sheriffs' Association on indigent defendants in criminal cases.

"In the United States of America you can't pu...