BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 423
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 23, 2013
Counsel: Sandy Uribe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
AB 423 (Torres) - As Amended: April 9, 2013
SUMMARY : Requires the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) to include in the Strategic Offender
Management System, or any other successor system maintained by
CDCR, information regarding restitution fines or orders for
inmates within its jurisdiction. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires CDCR to include in its computer system information on
restitution fines or orders imposed on inmates, including the
amount necessary to fulfill a fine or order, the amounts
collected, and the status of efforts to collect any remaining
balance.
2)Requires CDCR to utilize that system to ensure that the
California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board
(VCGCB) is given accurate and up-to-date information regarding
unfulfilled restitution fines and orders.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the court to order the defendant to pay both a
restitution fine and restitution to the victim, if any, in
addition to any other penalty provided by law. [Penal Code
Section 1202.4(a)(3).]
2)Gives the court the discretion to set the amount of the
restitution fine commensurate with the seriousness of the
offense and other factors, as specified. [Penal Code Section
1202.4(b)(1) and (d).]
3)Mandates the restitution fine for felony offenses shall not be
less than $280 and not more than $10,000. [Penal Code Section
1202.4(b)(1).]
4)Requires full victim restitution for economic losses
determined by the court. [Penal Code Section 1202.4(f).]
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5)States that economic losses include, but are not limited to,
the following: full or partial payment for the value of
stolen or damaged property; medical expenses; mental health
counseling expenses; wages or profits lost due to injury
incurred by the victim, and if the victim is a minor, wages or
profits lost by the minor's parent, parents, guardian, or
guardians, while caring for the injured minor; wages or
profits lost by the victim, and if the victim is a minor,
wages or profits lost by the minor's parent, parents,
guardian, or guardians, due to time spent as a witness or in
assisting the police or prosecution; noneconomic losses,
including, but not limited to, psychological harm, for felony
violations of Penal Code Section 288; interest at the rate of
10% per annum; actual and reasonable attorney's fees and other
collection costs; relocation expenses incurred by an adult
victim; expenses to install or increase residential security;
expenses to retrofit a residence or vehicle, or both, to make
the residence accessible to or the vehicle operational by the
victim, where the victim suffers permanent disability as a
direct result of the crime; and expenses to monitor and repair
the credit report of a victim of identity theft. [Penal Code
Section 1202.4(f).]
6)Requires CDCR to make deductions from an inmate's wages and
trust account deposits of 20% or the amount of restitution
outstanding, whichever amount is less (and in no case to
exceed a 50% deduction), in order to enforce a restitution
fine or order. [Penal Code Section 2085.5(a) and (c).]
7)Authorizes CDCR to charge a 10% administrative fee from any
money that is collected from parolees, and from inmates' wages
and trust accounts to satisfy restitution fines and orders;.
[Penal Code Section 2085.5(e).]
8)Exempts money for the purchase of food for unsupervised
overnight visits from restitution deductions by CDCR when an
inmate is housed at an institution requiring food to be
purchased from the institution canteen. [Penal Code Section
2085.5(m).]
9)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
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victim. (Penal Code Section 1214.)
10)Specifies that a restitution order is enforceable as a civil
judgment. [Penal Code Section 1202.4(i).]
11)Provides that fines, state or local penalties, bail,
forfeitures, restitution fines, restitution orders, or any
other amounts imposed by the superior court for criminal
offenses can be referred to the Franchise Tax Board for
collection under guidelines prescribed by the Franchise Tax
Board no sooner than 90 days after the payments become
delinquent. (Revenue and Taxation Code Section 19280.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "In 2009 the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)
announced the award of a $245 million grant in an effort to
automate and streamline offender data systems. The project,
known as the Strategic Offender Management System (SOMS), when
fully implemented will consolidate existing databases and
records, replacing manual paper processes, upgrading and
standardizing adult and juvenile data and population
management practices to further enhance staff, offender, and
public safety. Partnered with the Trust Restitution,
Accounting, and Canteen System (TRACS), the new system will
share data that will make tracking of court ordered
restitution orders and payments more efficient and effective
for victim's, offenders, and offender's family members.
"With the significant changes associated with AB 109
(realignment) that shifted many offenders to local custody,
the victim community is increasingly concerned about the
ability to collect on the restitution orders and fines imposed
on offenders by the courts. As the state develops creative
solutions to address the issue of prison overcrowding, this
proposal simply ensures that victims do not bear the financial
burden of recovering and are not once again victimized by
their offender. Ultimately, this program will lead to high
level continuity of rehabilitation and other programming for
offenders when they transition from custody into the
community."
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2)Collection from Inmates : CDCR has the authority to collect
money for restitution obligations from inmates housed in
prisons, or those on active parole under Penal Code Section
2085.5. CDCR also has authority to collect from juvenile
housed at Division of Juvenile Justice. [Welfare and
Institutions Code Section 1752.81(a).] These provisions are
akin to garnishment statutes. They call for deductions from
an inmate's wages and trust account deposits of 20% or the
amount of restitution outstanding, whichever amount is less,
and in no case to exceed a 50% deduction, in order to enforce
a restitution fine or order. [In re Betts (1998) 62
Cal.App.4th 821, 825.] In addition, a 10% fee may be charged
by the collecting agency for its administrative costs.
When an inmate arrives at CDCR, an inmate trust account is
established to accommodate monetary deposits and/or
withdrawals. It is also designed to track any and all
obligations that an offender may have, such as restitution
fines and direct orders. Deposits into the account generally
consist of prison wages and deposits by family and friends.
(See CDCR's Web site:
.)
For those offenders who have both a fine and a direct order, the
direct order obligation will be satisfied first. Money
collected from the inmate's trust deposits is transferred to
the VCGCB for disbursement to the victim. Disbursements are
made in increments of $50 or every six months, whichever is
reached first. (.)
In the 2011 calendar year, CDCR collected $22,925,675.73 from
inmates and parolees. Fifty one percent of this amount was
comprised of prison fines, whereas five percent was from
parolee fines. Sixteen percent of the total collected was for
victim restitution orders from prisoners, and nineteen percent
was post-prison victim orders. Finally, nine percent of the
monies collected went to administrative fees for CDCR.
(
3)SOMS Project : SOMS encompasses multiple applications along
with a single offender database, allowing CDCR to replace its
current paper-based, disparate, and duplicate legacy systems
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with a single, strategic, statewide solution capable of
supporting all of CDCR's offender management needs.
SOMS will enable custody staff and other stakeholders to have a
real-time situational awareness of offender location and
status. The two primary technological components of the
project are the Electronic Records Management System (ERMS)
and the Electronic Offender Management Information System
(eOMIS).
The SOMS ERMS project includes the scanning of all offender
central fines and uploading them to a central records
depository. Accessibility to the records is provided by an
enterprise-wide search and view application. With offender
central files scanned into ERMS, all institutions and various
CDCR administrative locations statewide have real-time access
to the scanned offender files. All active female offender
files have been scanned into ERMS. CDCR began scanning male
offender files in February 2013.
The SOMS eOMIS product is a centralized, Web-based
application. This application increases the availability of
accurate, complete, and real-time offender information so that
CDCR can more efficiently manage inmates. Full implementation
will automate offender processes such as reception center
intake, endorsement for transfer, movements, counts,
pre-release planning, and calculating pre-release dates.
4)Enforcement of Restitution Orders and Fines after
Incarceration : A restitution order and a restitution fine are
enforceable as if those orders were civil judgments. [Penal
Code Section 1202.4(i).] The orders are enforceable
immediately and continue to be enforceable by the VCGCB after
termination of probation or parole. [Penal Code Section
1214.] In addition, restitution fines, restitution orders, or
any other amounts imposed by the superior court for criminal
offenses can be referred to the Franchise Tax Board for
collection under guidelines prescribed by the Franchise Tax
Board no sooner than 90 days after the payments become
delinquent. (Revenue and Taxation Code Section 19280.)
Accordingly, just because an inmate is released from custody
does not mean that a victim will be unable to recover
outstanding victim restitution or that fines will not be
collected. On the contrary, due to the fact that many inmates
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cannot work while they are incarcerated, and that those that
can are paid very little, it seems more likely that a criminal
defendant will be able to fulfill these obligations after he
or she is released and is able to seek employment.
5)Argument in Support : Crime Victims United (the sponsor of
this bill) writes, "With the significant changes associated
with AB 109 (realignment) that shifted many offenders to local
custody and expedited their time served, the victim community
is increasingly concerned about the ability to collect on the
restitution orders and fines imposed on offenders by the
courts. These offenders are being housed for less time making
it difficult to collect restitution to fulfill their
obligations prior to their release from custody and oversight.
Given the lesser time served by local offenders, the ongoing
difficulty of fulfilling restitution obligations of offenders
in state prison and the associated solvency impacts on the
Victims Restitution Fund, it is more critical than ever to
ensure there is a comprehensive system to track restitution
fines and direct orders to better assist in the proper
collection of these important obligations."
6)Prior Legislation :
a) SB 1210 (Lieu), Chapter 762, Statutes of 2012,
authorized the agency designated by the board of
supervisors in the county of incarceration to deduct 20% to
50% from the wages and trust account deposits of a
county-jail inmate serving a sentence under realignment and
owing a restitution fine, and to transfer that amount to
the VCGCB for deposit in the restitution fund.
b) AB 898 (Alejo), Chapter 358, Statutes of 2011, increased
the minimum restitution fine incrementally over a three
year period from $200 to $300 for a felony conviction and
from $100 to $150 for a misdemeanor conviction.
c) AB 1505 (La Suer), Chapter 555, Statutes of 2006,
required CDCR to collect restitution from inmates and
parolees.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
AB 423
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Crime Victims United (Sponsor)
California District Attorneys Association
Crime Victims Action Alliance
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744