BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1054
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB
1054 (Pavley)
As Amended August 18, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 39-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Public Safety |7-0 |Jones-Sawyer, | |
| | |Melendez, Lackey, | |
| | |Lopez, Low, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, Daly, | |
| | |Eggman, Gallagher, | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Holden, Jones, | |
| | |Obernolte, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood, Chau | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
SB 1054
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SUMMARY: Clarifies the collection process for fines and
restitution by county collection agencies, and mitigates issues
of duplicate collection. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes the agency designated to collect restitution fines
and orders from sentenced felony jail inmates to retain an
administrative fee to cover the actual costs of collection up
to 10% of monies collected, rather than an automatic 10% of
the monies collected.
2)Authorizes the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) to retain an administrative fee to cover
the actual costs of collection up to 10% of monies collected,
rather than an automatic 10% of the monies collected.
3)Clarifies that the agency designated by the county to collect
restitution fines and orders from sentenced felony jail
inmates may retain the administrative fee at the time the
restitution order or fine is collected.
4)Provides that if a county agency has been designated to
collect restitution orders from sentenced felony jail inmates,
persons on post-release community supervision (PRCS) or
mandatory supervision, and the county agency objects to
referral of the order to Franchise Tax Board (FTB) for
collection, neither CDCR nor the county shall refer the order
to FTB.
5)Provides that the victim entitled to the restitution may
designate the agency that will collect the restitution.
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6)Makes technical, non-substantive changes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Authorizes the CDCR to collect restitution fines and
restitution orders from prisoners.
2)Allows the Secretary of CDCR to collect money from parolees
with an outstanding balance on a restitution fine or a victim
restitution order.
3)Requires CDCR to withhold an administrative fee totaling 10%
of money collected from the prisoner or parolee to be held in
a special deposit account for the purposes of reimbursing
administrative and support costs of the restitution program.
4)Authorizes 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 or restitution order.
5)Allows the agency designated by the board of supervisors in
the county of incarceration to withhold an administrative fee
totaling 10% of money collected to be held in a special
deposit account for the purposes of reimbursing administrative
and support costs of the restitution program, as specified.
6)Allows the agency designated by the board of supervisors to
collect money from inmates released from jail after serving a
sentencing under realignment who has an outstanding balance on
a restitution fine or a victim restitution order.
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7)Authorizes the agency designated by the board of supervisors
to collect unsatisfied restitutions fines and victim
restitution order from persons released on Post-Release
Community Supervision (PRCS) or mandatory supervision.
8)Gives the board of supervisors discretion to impose an
administrative fee not to exceed 10% of the amount collected,
the proceeds of which shall be deposited into the county's
general fund.
9)Requires the Judicial Council to adopt guidelines for a
comprehensive program concerning the collection of moneys owed
for fees, fines, forfeitures, penalties, and assessments
imposed by court order.
10)Specifies that a restitution order is enforceable as a civil
judgment.
11)Prioritizes the order in which delinquent court-ordered debt
received is to be satisfied. The priorities are a) victim
restitution, b) state surcharge, c) restitution fines, penalty
assessments, and other fines, with payments made on a
proportional basis to the total amount levied for all of these
items, and d) state/county/city reimbursements, and special
revenue items.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor recoverable costs to collection agencies.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "SB 1054 addresses legal
ambiguities in the collection of victim restitution fines from
inmates sentenced to county jail pursuant to Penal Code Section
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1170(h) and inmates released from state prison to Post-Release
Community Supervision (PRCS). Because of statutory
inconsistencies, it is unclear when a county sheriff is
authorized to collect a state authorized administrative fee.
Consequently, sheriffs may be unable to collect administrative
fees to pay for restitution collection from PC [Penal Code
Section] 1170(h) inmates. In addition, because of an anomaly in
current law, an individual on PRCS can be referred to the state
Franchise Tax Board for collection of restitution, despite being
on local supervision. This dual state-local authority could
lead to unfair restitution collection from an individual
released to PRCS. SB 1054 would specify that counties that
supervise criminal populations can collect the restitution and
related administrative costs and thus help victims receive
restitution. The bill provides fairness in collecting
restitution from criminal offenders released to PRCS, who at the
present time may be overcharged restitution fines from both the
state and the county.
"In 2012, the Legislature authorized the collection of
restitution from county jail inmate accounts from prisoners
sentenced pursuant to Penal Code section 1170(h). Since that
time, there has been confusion regarding the collection of
administrative fees by county sheriffs pursuant to this statute.
Because of this confusion, some counties such as Monterey, San
Diego and Sacramento, believe that the collection of the fee is
not authorized until the release of the inmate. However,
inmates may empty out their account to prevent the county
sheriff from collecting their administrative fee upon their
release. The California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) has always interpreted the language to
allow for immediate collection of the administrative fee, but
not all counties agree. This bill is consistent with recent
legislation and clarifies the issue for counties.
"Existing law authorizes the CDCR to refer any former prison
inmate to the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) for collection of
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restitution. Currently an individual on Post Release Community
Supervision (PRCS) can be referred to the FTB, despite the fact
that their supervision is local. AB 109 transferred supervision
of inmates to local control. It is inconsistent with AB 109 for
the State to continue to collect restitution from an individual
who is being supervised at the county level. Current law could
lead to unfair double collection of restitution, hindering the
successful reentry of an individual back into the community.
"SB 1054 will resolve these issues to clearly express that a
county sheriff can collect the 10% administrative fee at the
time restitution is collected on behalf of the victim, and by
amending the Revenue and Tax Code to allow a county that is
collecting restitution from an individual on PRCS to have
primary authority to do so. After an individual is released
from PRCS, the county would then transfer responsibility to the
FTB to collect remaining restitution."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:
Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN:
0004335
SB 1054
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