SLS 18RS-1903 ORIGINAL
2018 Regular Session
SENATE BILL NO. 522
BY SENATOR CLAITOR
CRIME/PUNISHMENT. Provides relative to the payment of restitution to the victim of a
crime. (8/1/18)
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 875.1(D)(1)(a), (E), and (F) and to
3 enact Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 875.1(G), relative to restitution; to provide
4 relative to payment of restitution to the victim of a crime; to prohibit the waiver and
5 forgiveness of a defendant's financial obligations that are designated as restitution;
6 and to provide for related matters.
7 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
8 Section 1. Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 875.1(D)(1)(a), (E), and (F) are hereby
9 amended and reenacted and Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 875.1(G) is hereby enacted to
10 read as follows:
11 Art. 875.1. Determination of substantial financial hardship to the defendant
12 * * *
13 D.(1) If the court determines that payment in full of the aggregate amount of
14 all financial obligations imposed upon the defendant would cause substantial
15 financial hardship to the defendant or his dependents, the court shall do either of the
16 following:
17 (a) Waive all or any portion of the financial obligations, except for any
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 522
SLS 18RS-1903 ORIGINAL
1 financial obligation designated as restitution due to a victim.
2 * * *
3 E. If a defendant is ordered to make monthly payments under a payment plan
4 established pursuant to the provisions of Subsubparagraph (D)(1)(b) of this Article,
5 the defendant's outstanding financial obligations, except for a financial obligation
6 designated as restitution, resulting from his criminal conviction are forgiven and
7 considered paid-in-full if the defendant makes consistent monthly payments for
8 either twelve consecutive months or consistent monthly payments for half of the
9 defendant's term of supervision, whichever is longer.
10 F. If, at the termination or end of the defendant's term of supervision,
11 any restitution ordered by the court remains outstanding, the balance of the
12 unpaid restitution shall be reduced to a civil money judgment in favor of the
13 person to whom restitution is owed that may be enforced in the same manner
14 as provided for the execution of judgments in the Louisiana Code of Civil
15 Procedure. For any civil money judgment ordered under this Article, the clerk
16 shall send notice of the judgment to the last known address of the person to
17 whom the restitution was ordered to be paid.
18 G. The provisions of this Article shall apply only to defendants convicted of
19 offenses classified as felonies under applicable law.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Jerry J. Guillot.
DIGEST
SB 522 Original 2018 Regular Session Claitor
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.
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
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(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.
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 that the portion of the defendant's financial
obligations that is designated as restitution due to a victim shall not be waived or forgiven
pursuant to present law.
Finally, proposed law provides that any outstanding balance of unpaid restitution at the end
of a defendant's term of supervision shall be reduced to a civil money judgment that may be
enforced in the same manner as provided for the execution of judgments in the La. Code of
Civil Procedure. Notice of the judgment shall be sent by the clerk to the last known address
of the person to whom the restitution was ordered to be paid.
Effective August 1, 2018.
(Amends C.Cr.P. Art. 875.1(D)(1)(a), (E), and (F); adds C.Cr.P. Art. 875.1(G))
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.