BILL ANALYSIS
SB 432
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 23, 2009
Chief Counsel: Gregory Pagan
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Juan Arambula, Chair
SB 432 (Runner) - As Amended: May 21, 2009
SUMMARY : Authorizes a county probation department, when
restitution has been ordered, to provide the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) a copy of
the restitution order and victim contact information.
Specifically, this bill provides that whenever a person is
committed to an institution under the jurisdiction of the CDCR
and the court has ordered the person top pay restitution to a
victim the following shall apply:
1)If the victim consents, the probation officer of the county
from which the person is committed may send to the CDCR the
victim's contact information and a copy of the restitution
order for the purpose of distributing the restitution
collected on behalf of the victim.
2)The contact information shall remain confidential and shall
not be made part of the court file or combined with any public
document.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States it is the unequivocal intention of the People of the
State of California that all persons who suffer losses as a
result of criminal activity shall have the right to
restitution from the persons convicted of the crimes for
losses they suffer. Restitution shall be ordered from the
convicted persons in every case, regardless of the sentence or
disposition imposed, in which a crime victim suffers a loss,
unless compelling and extraordinary reasons exist to the
contrary. The Legislature shall adopt provisions to implement
this section during the calendar year following adoption of
this section. [California Constitution Article 1 Section
28(b).]
2)States legislative intent that a victim of crime who incurs
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any economic loss as a result of the commission of a crime
shall receive restitution directly from any defendant
convicted of that crime. [Penal Code Section 1202.4(a)(1).]
3)States that in any case in which a prisoner owes a restitution
fine or order imposed, as specified, the CDCR Director shall
deduct a minimum of 20% or the balance owing on the fine
amount, whichever is less, up to a maximum of 50% from the
wages and trust account deposits of a prisoner, unless
prohibited by federal law, and shall transfer that amount to
the California Victims Compensation and Government Claims
Board (CVDGCB) for deposit in the Restitution Fund in the
State Treasury. Any amount so deducted shall be credited
against the amount owing on the fine. The sentencing court
shall be provided a record of the payments. [Penal Code
Section 2085.5(a) and (b).]
4)Allows the Director of the Board of Corrections (BOC) to
withhold an administrative fee from the offender's earnings to
be held in a special deposit account for the purposes of
reimbursing administrative and support costs of the
restitution program. [Penal Code Section 2085.5(c).]
5)States that in any case in which a parolee owes a restitution
fine imposed pursuant to law, the CDCR Director may collect
from the parolee any moneys owing on the restitution fine
amount unless prohibited by federal law. The CDCR Director
shall transfer that amount to the CVCGCB for deposit in the
Restitution Fund in the State Treasury. Any amount so
deducted shall be credited against the amount owing on the
fine. The sentencing court shall be provided a record of the
payments. [Penal Code Section 2085.5(d).]
6)States that in any case in which a parolee owes a direct order
of restitution, imposed pursuant to law, the CDCR Director may
collect from the parolee any moneys owing unless prohibited by
federal law. If the restitution is owed to a person who has
filed an application with the Victim Compensation Program, the
CDCR Director shall transfer that amount to the CVCGCB for
direct payment to the victim or payment shall be made to the
Restitution Fund to the extent that the victim has received
assistance pursuant to that program. No deductions shall be
made on behalf of victims who have not filed an application
with the Victim Compensation Program. The sentencing court
shall be provided a record of the payments made by the
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offender pursuant to this subdivision. [Penal Code Section
2085.5(e).]
7)Provides that the CDCR Director may deduct and retain from any
moneys collected from parolees an administrative fee that
totals 10% of any amount transferred to the CVCGCB pursuant to
law unless prohibited by federal law. The CDCR Director shall
deduct and retain from any settlement or trial award of a
parolee an administrative fee that totals 5% of any amount
paid from the settlement or award to satisfy an outstanding
restitution order or fine pursuant to law, unless prohibited
by federal law. [Penal Code Section 2085.5(f).]
8)States that when a prisoner or a parolee has both a
restitution fine and a restitution order from the sentencing
court, the CDCR shall collect the restitution order first.
[Penal Code Sections 2085.5(g).]
9)States that any compensatory or punitive damages awarded by
trial or settlement to any inmate or parolee in connection
with a civil action brought against any federal, state, or
local jail, prison; correctional facility; or any official or
agent thereof, shall be paid directly, after payment of
reasonable attorney's fees and litigation costs approved by
the court, to satisfy any outstanding restitution orders or
restitution fines against that person. The balance of any
award shall be forwarded to the payee after full payment of
all outstanding restitution orders and restitution fines. The
CDCR shall make all reasonable efforts to notify the victims
of the crime for which that person was convicted concerning
the pending payment of any compensatory or punitive damages.
[Penal Code Section 2085.5(j)]
10)States that in any case in which a victim cannot be located,
the restitution revenues received by the CVCGCB on behalf of
the victim shall be held in trust in the Restitution Fund
until the end of the state fiscal year subsequent to the state
fiscal year in which the funds were deposited or until the
time that the victim has provided current address information,
whichever occurs sooner. Amounts remaining in trust at the
end of the specified period of time shall revert to the
Restitution Fund. [Penal Code Section 2085.5(k)(2).]
11)States that any victim failing to provide a current address
within the period of time specified in existing law may
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provide documentation to the CDCR, which in turn shall verify
that moneys were in fact collected on behalf of the victim.
Upon receipt of that verified information from the CDCR, the
CVCGCB shall transmit the restitution revenues to the victim
in accordance with the provisions of law. [Penal Code Section
2085.5(k)(3).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to author, "SB 432 would
authorize all 58 counties to release enough victim information
to allow the CDCR, Office of Victims and Survivor Rights and
Services (OVSS) to disperse the restitution that has been
collected on behalf of the victim's direct order of
restitution. The CVCGCB currently has $6.5 million in trust
in undistributed direct order collections.
"CVCGCB is the state agency responsible for administering the
Victims Restitution Fund. The restitution fund is for victims
of violent crimes who suffer out-of-pocket losses and who may
be eligible to apply for financial reimbursement. The fund
reimburses eligible victims for lost wages or support, medical
or psychological counseling expenses, and other related costs.
"As of July 2008, CDCR has approximately 250,000 inmates and
parolees with obligations for restitution over $100. There
are approximately 33,000 current inmates and parolees who owe
direct orders. The sum of the balance due for these offenders
is approximately $1.1 billion.
"There are approximately 100,000 unknown victims with direct
orders of restitution that CDCR is unable to locate.
"Prior to 2007, any undisbursed collected restitution funds were
almost nonexistent. OVSS was able to distribute about 97% of
all direct order collections immediately upon collection
because when an offender was ordered to pay a victim under a
direct order of restitution, the law further required the
victim to file a claim with the state before CDCR was
empowered to collect on the victim's behalf. However, many
victims were unclear on how file a claim or did not know that
they were required to file a claim in order to receive
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restitution funds. Victims also assumed that once the order
was written by the court, awarding restitution to them, that
the money would be automatically mailed to them.
"The requirement to file a claim became very unpopular with both
judges and victims. As a result, CDCR sponsored AB 1505,
which authorized (effective January 1, 2007) CDCR to collect
on all direct orders without the victim claim filing
requirement. This caused direct order collections to jump
immediately from $40,000 monthly to $400,000.
"However, as collections rose, the percentage which could be
distributed (where victim information was known) dropped from
97% to 22%. CDCR is accumulating $3.5 million annually that
cannot be disbursed due to the lack of victim contact
information.
"As of October 2008, there was $6.5 million in undisbursed
direct order collections from CDCR being held in trust at the
CVCGCB."
2)Prior Legislation : AB 1505 (La Suer), Chapter 555, Statutes
of 2006, authorized CDCR to collect restitution on behalf of a
victim, and allowed a victim to collect restitution without
filing a claim with the CVCGCB.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Crime Victims United of California
Los Angeles District Attorneys' Office
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744