BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1054|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1054
Author: Pavley (D)
Amended: 8/18/16
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 4/5/16
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR: 39-0, 4/21/16 (Consent)
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson,
Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Stone,
Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 8/23/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Restitution orders: collection
SOURCE: Los Angeles County District Attorney
DIGEST: This bill 1) authorizes a county agency designated by
the board of supervisors to collect restitution fines or
restitution orders from a person who has been released from a
county jail without being subject to postrelease community
supervision or mandatory supervision; 2) directs counties to
coordinate collection efforts with the Franchise Tax Board
(FTB); 3) authorizes a county collection agency to deduct the
actual costs of collection (up to 10%) at the time of
collection, not only upon an inmate's release; 4) prohibits the
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Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) or a county
from referring a restitution order to the FTB if a county agency
has been designated to collect restitution, as specified; 5)
requires that collection be performed in accordance with the
victim's preference; and 6) makes technical and organizational
changes in relevant statutory provisions.
Assembly Amendments limit the administrative fee retained by
CDCR for collecting fines and restitution to the actual costs of
collection up to 10% of monies collected, rather than an
automatic 10% of the monies collected and make technical and
organizational changes.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Authorizes CDCR to collect restitution fines and restitution
orders from prisoners. (Pen. Code, § 2085.5, subds. (a) &
(c).)
2) Allows the Secretary of CDCR to collect money from parolees
with an outstanding balance on a restitution fine or a victim
restitution order. (Pen. Code, § 2085.5, subds. (g) & (h).)
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.
(Pen. Code, § 2085.5, subd. (i).)
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
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fine or restitution order. (Pen. Code, § 2085.5, subds.
(b)(1) & (c).)
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. (Pen. Code, § 2085.5, subd. (i).)
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. (Pen.
Code, § 2085.5, subds. (g) & (h).)
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. (Pen.
Code, § 2085.6, subds. (a) & (b).)
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. (Pen. Code, § 2085.6, subd. (d).)
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. (Pen. Code, § 1463.010, subd. (a).)
10)Specifies that a restitution order is enforceable as a civil
judgment. (Pen. Code, § 1202.4, subd. (i).)
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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. (Pen. Code, § 1203.1d.)
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 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 PRCS or mandatory supervision, and the
county agency objects to referral of the order to 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.
Background
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 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 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
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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 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.
Because Penal Code Section 2085.5, subdivision (f) states, in
part, "Upon release from custody ? the agency is authorized to
charge a fee to cover the actual administrative cost," several
counties have interpreted this to mean that the administrative
fee cannot be collected until the inmate's release. In fact,
this language was intended to give the county agency continuing
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authority to collect the administrative fee after the inmate's
release.
In order to clarify this ambiguity, this bill deletes the
confusing language in Penal Code Section 2085.5, subdivision (f)
and enacts a statute on collection procedures applicable when an
inmate is released from county jail without a supervisory tail.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, minor
recoverable costs to collection agencies.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/23/16)
Los Angeles County District Attorney (source)
California District Attorneys Association
California Public Defenders Association
California State Sheriffs' Association
Chief Probation Officers Association of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/23/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 8/23/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim,
Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,
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Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
Prepared by: Jerome McGuire / PUB. S. /
8/23/16 20:19:21
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