BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 1210 (Lieu) - Realignment: collection of criminal fines and
penalties.
Amended: April 25, 2012 Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 14, 2012 Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1210 would revise various victim restitution
statutes to include persons subject to local supervision
pursuant to provisions of the 2011 Public Safety Realignment, as
specified. This bill would require the collection of fines, as
specified, by agencies designated by local boards of supervisors
in which the prisoners are incarcerated. This bill makes an
appropriation by creating a new revenue source for deposit into
the Restitution Fund.
Fiscal Impact:
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
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 (FTB) for
debt collection activities, fully offset by revenues
collected.
Background: Public Safety Realignment of 2011 provided that
effective October 1, 2011, individuals sentenced to non-serious,
non-violent or non-sex offenses would serve their sentences in
county jails instead of state prisons and could be subject to a
period of locally-supervised mandatory supervision, as
specified. Additionally, Realignment provided for specified
SB 1210 (Lieu)
Page 1
felons to be supervised locally under postrelease community
supervision instead of state parole immediately following
release from state prison. However, the legislation implementing
Realignment did not provide local sheriffs with the authority to
collect Restitution fines and orders from the realigned felons
sentenced to county jail.
Existing law states "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
restitution from the persons convicted of the crimes for losses
they suffer. Restitution shall be ordered from the convicted
persons in every case, regardless of the sentence or disposition
imposed, in which a crime victim suffers a loss, unless
compelling and extraordinary reasons exist to the contrary."
(California Constitution, Article I, sec. 28(b)).
Proposed Law: This bill would make the following revisions to
several victim restitution code sections to reflect realigned
felons subject to local supervision pursuant to 2011 Public
Safety Realignment, as follows:
Requires a person who is incarcerated in a county jail
for violating the terms of his or her postrelease community
supervision or mandatory supervision to pay a restitution
fine that shall be collected by the local agency in which
the prisoner is incarcerated.
Provides that any portion of a restitution order that
remains unsatisfied after a defendant is no longer on
postrelease community supervision or mandatory supervision
is enforceable by the victim.
In any case in which a prisoner punished by imprisonment
in a county jail pursuant to Penal Code (PC) section
1170(h) (realigned jail felons) owes a restitution fine or
order, the designated local agency shall deduct a minimum
of 20 percent or up to a maximum of 50 percent from the
county jail equivalent of wages and trust account deposits
of a prisoner, and shall transfer that amount to the
Victims Compensation and Government Claims Board (VCGCB).
Requires the sentencing court be provided a record of
the payments made to victims and of the payments deposited
to the Restitution Fund.
Authorizes the agency designated by the board of
supervisors in the applicable county to retain an
administrative fee of 10 percent of the any amount
SB 1210 (Lieu)
Page 2
transferred to the VCBCB.
Related Legislation: AB 109 (Committee on Budget) Chapter
15/2011, the 2011 Public Safety Realignment bill provides that
effective October 1, 2011, individuals sentenced to non-serious,
non-violent or non-sex offenses will serve their sentences in
county jails instead of state prison.
Staff Comments: This bill establishes local law enforcement
authority to collect outstanding restitution fines and orders
for felons realigned under Public Safety Realignment 2011. This
bill will result in an unknown but potentially significant
amount of increased revenue to the Restitution Fund. Staff notes
that the increased revenues to the Restitution Fund will not
necessarily be 'new' revenue but revenue that would have
otherwise been collected from these individuals in the absence
of Public Safety Realignment.
Comparable to the existing parole revocation restitution fine
authorized under existing law, this bill establishes a new fine
for those inmates who violate the terms of either postrelease
community supervision or mandatory supervision. The assessment
of this new fine will result in local costs for administration
of the collection of this new fine. However, because this
provision changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, it
appears these costs would be non-reimbursable pursuant to
Government Code section 17556(g) which prohibits the Commission
on State Mandates from finding costs mandated by the state if
the statute changes the penalty for a crime or infraction.
This bill also specifies that in any case in which a prisoner
punished by imprisonment in a county jail pursuant to PC section
1170(h) (realigned jail felons) owes a restitution fine or
order, the designated local agency shall deduct a minimum of 20
percent or up to a maximum of 50 percent from the county jail
equivalent of wages and trust account deposits of a prisoner,
and shall transfer that amount to VCGCB. This bill additionally
authorizes the agency designated by the board of supervisors in
the applicable county to retain an administrative fee of 10
percent of the any amount transferred to the VCBCB. These
provisions will require the designated local agencies to
administer a collection process for established restitution
fines and orders for this population of realigned jail felons
and will result in increased operational and administrative
SB 1210 (Lieu)
Page 3
costs. To the extent the administrative fee of 10 percent of
amounts transferred to VCGCB does not fully cover a local
agency's costs, any costs in excess of the 10 percent fee could
potentially be determined by the Commission as
state-reimbursable.
The 2012-13 Governor's Budget projections reflect a Restitution
Fund balance of $19.3 million in 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.