H-0354.1  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 1278

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      54th Legislature     1995 Regular Session

By Representatives Lambert, Mason, Costa, Delvin and Huff

Read first time 01/19/95.  Referred to Committee on Law and Justice.

Allowing courts to set restitution amounts at a later hearing.

    AN ACT Relating to restitution; amending RCW 9.94A.142; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  The 1995 c ... s 2 (section 2 of this act) amendment to RCW 9.94A.142 is intended to authorize courts to order restitution in any case sentenced prior to the effective date of this act for which no restitution order has been entered, as long as the defendant is not unfairly prejudiced by the delay.

    Sec. 2.  RCW 9.94A.142 and 1994 c 271 s 602 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) When restitution is ordered, the court shall determine the amount of restitution due at the sentencing hearing or ((within sixty days)) at a later hearing set by the court.  The court shall then set a minimum monthly payment that the offender is required to make towards the restitution that is ordered.  The court should take into consideration the total amount of the restitution owed, the offender's present, past, and future ability to pay, as well as any assets that the offender may have.  During the period of supervision, the community corrections officer may examine the offender to determine if there has been a change in circumstances that warrants an amendment of the monthly payment schedule.  The community corrections officer may recommend a change to the schedule of payment and shall inform the court of the recommended change and the reasons for the change.  The sentencing court may then reset the monthly minimum payments based on the report from the community corrections officer of the change in circumstances.  Restitution ordered by a court pursuant to a criminal conviction shall be based on easily ascertainable damages for injury to or loss of property, actual expenses incurred for treatment for injury to persons, and lost wages resulting from injury.  Restitution shall not include reimbursement for damages for mental anguish, pain and suffering, or other intangible losses, but may include the costs of counseling reasonably related to the offense.  The amount of restitution shall not exceed double the amount of the offender's gain or the victim's loss from the commission of the crime.  For the purposes of this section, the offender shall remain under the court's jurisdiction for a maximum term of ten years following the offender's release from total confinement or ten years subsequent to the entry of the judgment and sentence, whichever period is longer.  The portion of the sentence concerning restitution may be modified as to amount, terms and conditions during the ten-year period, regardless of the expiration of the offender's term of community supervision and regardless of the statutory maximum for the crime.  The offender's compliance with the restitution shall be supervised by the department.

    (2) Restitution shall be ordered whenever the offender is convicted of an offense which results in injury to any person or damage to or loss of property unless extraordinary circumstances exist which make restitution inappropriate in the court's judgment and the court sets forth such circumstances in the record.  In addition, restitution shall be ordered to pay for an injury, loss, or damage if the offender pleads guilty to a lesser offense or fewer offenses and agrees with the prosecutor's recommendation that the offender be required to pay restitution to a victim of an offense or offenses which are not prosecuted pursuant to a plea agreement.

    (3) In addition to any sentence that may be imposed, a defendant who has been found guilty of an offense involving fraud or other deceptive practice or an organization which has been found guilty of any such offense may be ordered by the sentencing court to give notice of the conviction to the class of persons or to the sector of the public affected by the conviction or financially interested in the subject matter of the offense by mail, by advertising in designated areas or through designated media, or by other appropriate means.

    (4) This section does not limit civil remedies or defenses available to the victim, survivors of the victim, or defendant.

    (5) This section shall apply to offenses committed after July 1, 1985.

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