DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part of the
legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute part of the law
or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HB 613 Original 2018 Regular Session Gaines
Abstract: Provides relative to the defendant's payment of financial obligations resulting from a
conviction, and provides for application to defendants convicted of any crime.
Present law (C.Cr.P. Art. 875.1, as enacted by Act No. 260 of the 2017 R.S., effective Aug. 1, 2018)
provides that, beginning Aug. 1, 2018, prior to ordering the imposition of any financial obligation,
the court shall determine whether payment in full of the aggregate amount of all the financial
obligations imposed upon the defendant would cause substantial financial hardship to the defendant
or his dependents.
Present law further provides for the following in this regard:
(1)If the court determines that payment in full of the aggregate amount of all financial
obligations imposed upon the defendant would cause substantial financial hardship to the
defendant or his dependents, the court shall either waive all or any portion of the financial
obligation or order a payment plan that requires the defendant to make a monthly payment
to fulfill the obligations.
(2)Provides that the defendant's outstanding financial obligations may be forgiven and
considered paid-in-full if the defendant makes consistent monthly payments for either 12
consecutive months or consistent monthly payments for half of the defendant's term of
supervision, whichever is longer.
Present law provides for application only to defendants convicted of offenses classified as felonies
under applicable law.
Proposed law amends present law (C.Cr.P. Art. 875.1, as enacted by Act No. 260 of the 2017 R.S.,
effective Aug. 1, 2018) to provide for application to defendants convicted of any crime.
(Amends C.Cr.P. Art. 875.1)