BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 934
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 934 (Cooley)
As Amended August 21, 2013
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |70-0 |(May 16, 2013) |SENATE: |37-0 |(September 3, |
| | | | | |2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: L. GOV.
SUMMARY : Requires local agencies to document a reasonable effort to
locate and notify crime victims to whom restitution is owed if the
local agency elects to use unclaimed restitution funds for general
victim services.
The Senate amendments :
1)Require a local agency that elects to use unclaimed restitution
money for purposes of victim services to first document that it
has made a reasonable effort to notify the victim to whom the
restitution is owed, and make technical and clarifying changes.
2)Delete a requirement that victim notification and location
described above be performed before unclaimed restitution moneys
are deposited into the Restitution Fund.
3)Allow the local agency to offset the reasonable cost of locating
and notifying the victim to whom restitution is owed by utilizing
fees collected pursuant to current law, which allows agencies that
collect restitution to charge an associated fee for
administration.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides, pursuant to the California Constitution, that all
persons who suffer losses as a result of criminal activity shall
have the right to restitution from the perpetrators of the crimes.
Restitution must be ordered in every case unless compelling and
extraordinary reasons exist to the contrary.
2)States that, when a prisoner owes victim restitution, the
Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) shall deduct a minimum of 20% or the balance
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owing on the ordered amount, whichever is less, and up to a
maximum of 50% from the wages and trust account deposits of a
prisoner. The Secretary shall transfer that amount to the
California Victim's Compensation and Government Claims Board
(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.
3)States that in any case in which a victim cannot be located, the
restitution revenues received by the CVCGCB on the victim's behalf
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.
4)Requires the court to assess a post-release community supervision
(PRCS) or mandatory-supervision revocation fine in the same amount
as that imposed for a restitution fine and authorizes local
agencies to collect them.
5)Authorizes prosecutors to send a victim's contact information to
CDCR without the victim's consent for purposes of distributing
restitution.
6)Provides that money, excluding restitution to victims, that is not
the property of a local agency that remains unclaimed in its
treasury or in the official custody of its officers for three
years is the property of the local agency after notice if not
claimed or if no verified complaint is filed and served.
7)Provides that, at any time after the expiration of the three-year
period, the treasurer of the local agency may cause a notice to be
published once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of
general circulation published in the local agency.
8)Requires money representing restitution collected on behalf of
victims to be either deposited into the Restitution Fund or used
by the local agency for purposes of victim services after the
expiration of the three-year period.
9)Provides that, if a court orders restitution to be made to a
victim, the entity collecting the restitution may add a fee to
cover the actual administrative cost of collection, but not to
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exceed 15% of the total amount ordered to be paid. If the fee is
collected by a county, the amount of the fee shall be set by the
board of supervisors and the fee collected shall be paid into the
general fund of the county treasury for the use and benefit of the
county.
10)Provides that, when a prisoner is punished by imprisonment in a
county jail, as specified, 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 CVCGCB, as specified. 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 award to satisfy an outstanding
restitution order or fine, as specified, unless prohibited by
federal law. The agency shall deposit the administrative fee
moneys 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 of 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.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Required a local agency to document that it has made a reasonable
effort to locate the victim to whom restitution is owed before
depositing funds into the Restitution Fund or using those funds
for victim services.
2)Provided that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to current law governing state-mandated local costs.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : This bill requires a local agency to document that it has
made a reasonable effort to locate and notify crime victims to whom
restitution is owed if it elects to use unclaimed funds for victim
services. The bill allows a local agency to offset the reasonable
cost of locating and notifying the victim to whom restitution is
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owed by utilizing fees collected pursuant to current law, as
specified. This bill is sponsored by Los Angeles County District
Attorney Jackie Lacey.
According to the author, "Restitution is a right under the
California Constitution and California statutes. This right was
most recently strengthened by the passage of Marsy's Law. It is
clear that the will of the people in this state favors the
disbursement of restitution to a crime victim."
According to the author's office, in July of 2011, the CDCR made the
Los Angeles District Attorney's office aware of $217,555.48 that had
gone undisbursed and owed to nearly 4,000 not fully identifiable
crime victims in Los Angeles County. In one case, one victim was
owed approximately $18,000. The CDCR had made efforts to locate
victims and disburse monies collected. However, they are not the
only collectors of restitution. Local probation departments, the
Franchise Tax Board, and local county agencies are all authorized to
collect restitution.
Last year, the Legislature approved SB 1210 (Lieu), Chapter 762,
Statutes of 2012, which requires courts to assess a PRCS or
mandatory-supervision revocation fine in the same amount as that
imposed for a restitution fine and authorizes local agencies to
collect them. This was part of California's corrections realignment
plan, which shifted responsibility from the state to counties for
the custody, treatment, and supervision of individuals convicted of
specified nonviolent, non-serious, non-sex crimes.
Also last year, the Legislature approved AB 2251 (Feuer), Chapter
124, Statutes of 2012, which authorizes prosecutors to send victim
contact information to CDCR without the victim's consent for
purposes of distributing restitution.
This bill is a follow-up measure that requires local agencies (in
practical terms, counties) to make a reasonable effort to locate and
notify victims of crime who are owed restitution before the local
agency uses the funds for victim services.
Support arguments: Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie
Lacey notes that money may be collected on behalf of victims by
probation departments and prosecutors as well as the state. Due to
realignment of the prison population, increasing numbers of crime
victims will rely on local government rather than CDCR to collect
restitution. She states that "it is time to update this law to
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assure that crime victims will receive the money that is owed to
them."
Opposition arguments: Opponents could question the lack of
definition for what it means to "document" reasonable effort and for
what "reasonable effort" entails, and what could consequently be a
lack of uniformity in compliance from one local jurisdiction to
another.
Analysis Prepared by : Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958
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