California Senate Bill SB1371 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 1371AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 19, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Senator Anderson FEBRUARY 24, 2012 An act to amend Section  1202.4   1205  of the Penal Code, relating to victim restitution. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1371, as amended, Anderson. Victim restitution:  private debt collector.   fines: default.  Existing law requires a court to order a defendant to make restitution in every case in which a victim has suffered economic loss as a result of the defendant's conduct. Existing law requires the restitution order to be based on the amount of loss claimed by the victim or victims, and to be of a dollar amount that is sufficient to fully reimburse the victim or victims for every determined economic loss incurred as a result of the defendant's criminal conduct, as specified. Under existing law, a restitution order imposed pursuant to these provisions is enforceable as if the order were a civil judgment.  Existing law provides for compensation to be made from the Restitution Fund to crime victims by the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board. Existing law requires that the board be subrogated to the rights of the recipient of a restitution order to the extent that any compensation was granted to the recipient by the board. Existing law also provides that the board is entitled to a lien on any judgment, award, or settlement in favor of the crime victim receiving restitution in the amount of compensation granted to the victim by the board.   This bill would authorize the board, with the consent of the victim of a crime to whom restitution is owed, to enter into a contract with a private debt collector in order to promote the collection of restitution owed to the victim after an order for restitution has been made, as specified.   Existing law specifies that a judgment that a defendant pay a fine may also direct that he or she be imprisoned until the fine is satisfied, and that the imprisonment begin at and continue after the expiration of any other prison sentence. Existing law makes those provisions applicable to restitution fines and restitution orders only if the defendant has defaulted on the payment of other fines.   This bill would instead make those provisions regarding imprisonment until a fine is satisfied inapplicable to restitution fines and restitution orders.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  yes   no  . State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 1205 of the   Penal Code   is amended to read:  1205. (a) A judgment that the defendant pay a fine, with or without other punishment, may also direct that he or she be imprisoned until the fine is satisfied and may further direct that the imprisonment begin at and continue after the expiration of any imprisonment imposed as a part of the punishment or of any other imprisonment to which  he or she   the defendant  may  theretofore  have been sentenced.  Each of these judgments   The judgment  shall specify the  extent   term  of  the  imprisonment for nonpayment of the fine, which shall not be more than one day for each thirty dollars ($30) of the fine, nor exceed  in any case  the term for which the defendant  might   may  be sentenced to imprisonment for the offense of which he or she has been convicted. A defendant held in custody for nonpayment of a fine shall be entitled to credit on the fine for each day he or she is  so  held in custody, at the rate specified in the judgment. When the defendant has been convicted of a misdemeanor, a judgment that the defendant pay a fine may also direct that he or she pay the fine within a limited time or in installments on specified dates  ,  and that in default of payment as  therein  stipulated he or she be imprisoned in the discretion of the court either until the defaulted installment is satisfied or until the fine is satisfied in full; but unless the direction is given in the judgment, the fine shall be payable  forthwith  . (b) Except as otherwise provided in case of fines imposed  , including restitution fines or restitution orders , as  conditions   a condition  of probation, the defendant shall pay the fine to the clerk of the court, or to the judge  thereof  if there is no clerk, unless the defendant is taken into custody for nonpayment of the fine, in which event payments made while he or she is in custody shall be made to the officer who holds  him or her   the defendant  in custody  ,  and all amounts  so  paid shall be  forthwith  paid over by the officer to the court  which   that  rendered the judgment. The clerk shall report to the court every default in payment of a fine or any part  thereof   of that fine  , or if there is no clerk, the court shall take notice of the default. If time has been given for payment of a fine or it has been made payable in installments, the court shall, upon any default in payment, immediately order the arrest of the defendant and order him or her to show cause why he or she should not be imprisoned until the fine or installment  thereof, as the case may be,  is satisfied in full. If the fine  , restitution fine, restitution order,  or installment  ,  is payable forthwith and it is not  so  paid, the court shall  ,  without further proceedings, immediately commit the defendant to the custody of the proper officer to be held in custody until the fine or installment  thereof, as the case may be,  is satisfied in full. (c) This section applies to any violation of any of the codes or statutes of this state punishable by a fine or by a fine and imprisonment.  Nothing   (d)     Nothing  in this section shall be construed to prohibit the clerk of the court, or the judge  thereof  if there is no clerk, from turning these accounts over to another county department or a collecting agency for processing and collection.  (d)   (e)  The defendant shall pay to the clerk of the court or the collecting agency a fee for the processing of installment accounts. This fee shall equal the administrative and clerical costs, as determined by the board of supervisors, or by the court, depending on which entity administers the account. The defendant shall pay to the clerk of the court or the collecting agency the fee established for the processing of the accounts receivable that are not to be paid in installments. The fee shall equal the administrative and clerical costs, as determined by the board of supervisors, or by the court, depending on which entity administers the account, except that the fee shall not exceed thirty dollars ($30).  (e)   (f)  This section shall  only   not  apply to restitution fines and restitution orders  if the defendant has defaulted on the payment of other fines  . All matter omitted in this version of the bill appears in the bill as introduced in the Senate, February 24, 2012. (JR11)