BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1210| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: SB 1210 Author: Lieu (D) Amended: 5/30/12 Vote: 27 SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/17/12 AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Calderon, Harman, Liu, Price, Steinberg SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/24/12 AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Dutton, Lieu, Price, Steinberg SUBJECT : Victim restitution: realignment SOURCE : California District Attorneys Association Crime Victims Action Alliance Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office DIGEST : This bill makes essentially technical revisions to victim restitution statutes to include persons subject to local supervision according to provisions of the 2011 Public Safety Realignment, as specified. ANALYSIS : Existing provisions in the California Constitution state that all persons who suffer losses as a result of criminal activity shall have the right to restitution from the perpetrators of these crimes. Restitution shall be ordered in every case unless compelling and extraordinary reasons exist to the contrary. CONTINUED SB 1210 Page 2 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)) Existing law states legislative intent that a victim of crime who incurs 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 (PEN) Section 1202.4, subd. (a)(1)) Existing law provides that where a defendant is committed to prison and subject to parole, the court shall impose a separate parole restitution fine in the same amount as the restitution fine itself. This additional parole revocation restitution fine is not subject to penalty assessments, as specified, or a specified state surcharge, and shall be suspended unless the person's parole is revoked. Parole revocation restitution fine moneys are deposited in the Restitution Fund in the State Treasury. (PEN Section 1202.45) This bill revises this provision to provide additionally that in every case where a person is convicted of a crime and is subject to either postrelease community supervision, as specified (PEN Section 3451), or mandatory supervision as a felon sentenced pursuant to Pen Section 1170(h)(5)(jail felony sentencing), and the person violates the terms of the postrelease community supervision or mandatory supervision and is incarcerated in a county jail for that violation, the person shall pay a fine that may be collected by the agency designated by the board of supervisors of the county in which the prisoner is incarcerated. Existing law generally provides for the enforcement of fines, including restitution fines, as specified, and provides that any "portion of a restitution order that remains unsatisfied after a defendant is no longer on probation or parole is enforceable by the victim pursuant to this section." (PEN Section 1214) This bill amends this section to include a reference to defendants no longer on postrelease community supervision, SB 1210 Page 3 as specified (PEN Section 3451), and mandatory supervision imposed pursuant to PEN Section 1170(h)(5)(B)(jail felony sentencing). Existing law provides for the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to make deductions from an inmate's wages and trust account deposits and transferred for deposit in the Restitution Fund where a prisoner owes a restitution fine, as specified. (PEN Section 2085.5) This bill provides that when a prisoner is punished by imprisonment in a county jail pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170, in any case in which a prisoner owes a restitution fine imposed pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 13967 of the Government Code, as operative prior to September 28, 1994, subdivision (b) of Section 730.6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or subdivision (b) of Section 1202.4, the agency designated by the board of supervisors in the county where the prisoner is incarcerated is authorized to deduct a minimum of 20% or the balance owing on the fine amount, whichever is less, up to a maximum of 50% from the county jail equivalent of wages and trust account deposits of a prisoner, unless prohibited by federal law, and shall transfer that amount to the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board 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. This bill provides that when a prisoner is punished by imprisonment in a county jail pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170, the agency designated by the board of supervisors in the county where the prisoner is incarcerated is authorized to deduct and retain from the county jail equivalent of wages and trust account deposits of a prisoner, unless prohibited by federal law, and administrative fee that totals 10% of any amount transferred to the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board pursuant to subdivision (b) or (d). The agency is authorized to deduct and retain from any prisoner settlement or trial award, an administrative fee that totals 5% of any amount paid from the settlement or SB 1210 Page 4 award to satisfy an outstanding restitution order or fine pursuant to subdivision (n), unless prohibited by federal law. The agency shall deposit the administrative fee monies in a special deposit account for reimbursing administrative and support costs of the restitution program of the agency. The agency is authorized to retain any excess funds in the special deposit account for future reimbursement to the agency's administrative and support costs for the restitution program or may transfer all or part of the excess funds for deposit in the Restitution Fund. This bill provides that any victim failing to provide a current address within the specified period of time may provide documentation to the agency designated by the board of supervisors in the county where the prisoner punished by imprisonment in a county jail pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 is incarcerated, which in turn may verify that monies were in fact collected on behalf of the victim. Upon receipt of that verified information from the agency, the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board shall transmit the restitution revenues to the victim in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (d) or (h). Existing law generally provides that restitution fines for criminal offenses imposed by a superior court be referred to the Franchise Tax Board for collection under guidelines prescribed by the Franchise Tax Board, as specified. (Revenue and Taxation Code Section 19280) This bill revises this provision to expressly include a juvenile court. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Ongoing potentially significant increased revenue to the Restitution Fund, dependent upon the level and rate of collection. One-time and annual ongoing potentially significant costs SB 1210 Page 5 to local agencies to update existing revenue collection systems or fund increased vendor contracts to accommodate the new and ongoing increased workload related to the collection of restitution for realigned jail felons. To the extent the 10 percent administrative fee does not fully cover a county's total costs, any additional costs could potentially be determined reimbursable state-mandated costs (General Fund). Minor ongoing costs to the Franchise Tax Board for debt collection activities, fully offset by revenues collected. The 2012-13 Governor's Budget projections reflect a Restitution Fund balance of $19.3 million 2011-12 and $8.4 million in 2012-13. Restitution fine revenue for the past three years has been $66.8 million in 2008-09, $63.3 million in 2009-10, and $62.5 million in 2010-11. SUPPORT : (Verified 5/30/12) California District Attorneys Association (co-source) Crime Victims Action Alliance (co-source) Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office (co-source) California Police Chiefs Association Crime Victims United of California ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author states: Last year, AB 109 realigned public safety services in California. As part of the Realignment plan thousands of convicted felons are no longer being sent to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), instead they are being housed in local jails. Unfortunately, the Realignment plan failed to give sheriffs the authority to collect restitution for victims from these convicted felons. SB 1210 corrects this oversight by providing California's sheriffs the authority to collect restitution from these offenders in order to help the victims of their crimes receive the restitution they are rightfully due. Restitution is mandated by the California Constitution SB 1210 Page 6 and was amended in 1989 to explicitly state that 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 seek and secure restitution from the persons convicted of the crimes causing the losses they suffer." (Cal. Const., Art. I § 28, subd. (b)(13)(A).) As part of a defendant's sentence, a court will order the defendant to pay restitution to their victims for the losses suffered by the victim as a result of the defendant's criminal activity. In order to help crime victims collect the restitution they are constitutionally due, CDCR deducts a minimum of 20% up to a maximum of 50% from the wages and trust account deposits a prisoner has and transfers that money to the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board for direct payment to the victim. As part of last year's Realignment plan, defendants convicted of certain felony crimes must be incarcerated in county jails rather than a state prison. Unfortunately, when this occurs, the Realignment plan failed to include any provisions for the collection of restitution by county sheriffs. SB 1210 provides local governments with the same authority the state has to collect restitution from these offenders in order to help the victims of their crimes and to collect fines owed to the state when offenders are incarcerated in a county jail instead of a state prison. SB 1210 would also give counties the right to collect a parole revocation fine when an offender violates parole after being incarcerated in county jail instead of state prisons. The parole revocation fines are used by the California Victim Compensation Program to help cover treatment and other support services for victims and their families. Right now felons who are sentenced to county jail rather than state prison pursuant to California's newly enacted realignment plan are not paying their victims for the losses they caused by their criminal activity, despite SB 1210 Page 7 the requirement in California's constitution that victims have a right to restitution from their perpetrators for the losses they suffered, nor are parolees who are serving their parole revocation in county jails instead of state prisons paying their parole revocation fines. These oversights must be corrected so that crime victims receive the restitution they deserve and so that these prisoners do not receive an unforeseen windfall from the Realignment plan. RJG:kcm 5/30/12 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****