AN ACT
Relating to restitution; amending RCW 9.94A.140, 9.94A.142, 9.94A.145, and
6.17.020; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE
OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
9.94A.140 and 1994 c 271 s 601 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) If
restitution is ordered, the court shall determine the amount of restitution due
at the sentencing hearing or within ((sixty)) one hundred eighty
days. The court may continue the hearing beyond the one hundred eighty days
for good cause. 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 court may not
reduce the total amount of restitution ordered because the offender may lack
the ability to pay the total amount. The offender's compliance with the
restitution shall be supervised by the department.
(2)
Restitution may be ordered whenever the offender is convicted of an offense
which results in injury to any person or damage to or loss of property. In
addition, restitution may 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
or defendant. The court shall identify in the judgment and sentence the
victim or victims entitled to restitution and what amount is due each victim.
The state or victim may enforce the court-ordered restitution in the same
manner as a judgment in a civil action. Restitution collected through civil
enforcement must be paid through the registry of the court and must be
distributed proportionately according to each victim's loss when there is more
than one victim.
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)) one
hundred eighty days. The court may continue the hearing beyond the one
hundred eighty days for good cause. 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 court may not
reduce the total amount of restitution ordered because the offender may lack
the ability to pay the total amount. 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. The court shall identify in the
judgment and sentence the victim or victims entitled to restitution and what
amount is due each victim. The state or victim may enforce the court-ordered
restitution in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action. Restitution
collected through civil enforcement must be paid through the registry of the
court and must be distributed proportionately according to each victim's loss
when there is more than one victim.
(5)
This section shall apply to offenses committed after July 1, 1985.
Sec.
3. RCW
9.94A.145 and 1991 c 93 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
Whenever a person is convicted of a felony, the court may order the payment of
a legal financial obligation as part of the sentence. The court must on either
the judgment and sentence or on a subsequent order to pay, designate the total
amount of a legal financial obligation and segregate this amount among the
separate assessments made for restitution, costs, fines, and other assessments
required by law. On the same order, the court is also to set a sum that the
offender is required to pay on a monthly basis towards satisfying the legal
financial obligation. If the court fails to set the offender monthly payment
amount, the department shall set the amount. Upon receipt of an offender's
monthly payment, after restitution is satisfied, the county clerk shall
distribute the payment proportionally among all other fines, costs, and
assessments imposed, unless otherwise ordered by the court.
(2) If
the court determines that the offender, at the time of sentencing, has the
means to pay for the cost of incarceration, the court may require the offender
to pay for the cost of incarceration at a rate of fifty dollars per day of
incarceration. Payment of other court-ordered financial obligations, including
all legal financial obligations and costs of supervision shall take precedence
over the payment of the cost of incarceration ordered by the court. All funds
recovered from offenders for the cost of incarceration in the county jail shall
be remitted to the county and the costs of incarceration in a prison shall be
remitted to the department of corrections.
(3)
The court may add to the judgment and sentence or subsequent order to pay a
statement that a notice of payroll deduction is to be immediately issued. If
the court chooses not to order the immediate issuance of a notice of payroll
deduction at sentencing, the court shall add to the judgment and sentence or
subsequent order to pay a statement that a notice of payroll deduction may be
issued or other income-withholding action may be taken, without further notice
to the offender if a monthly court-ordered legal financial obligation payment
is not paid when due, and an amount equal to or greater than the amount payable
for one month is owed.
If a
judgment and sentence or subsequent order to pay does not include the statement
that a notice of payroll deduction may be issued or other income-withholding
action may be taken if a monthly legal financial obligation payment is past
due, the department may serve a notice on the offender stating such
requirements and authorizations. Service shall be by personal service or any
form of mail requiring a return receipt.
(4)
All legal financial obligations that are ordered as a result of a conviction
for a felony, may also be enforced in the same manner as a judgment in a civil
action by the party or entity to whom the legal financial obligation is owed. Restitution
collected through civil enforcement must be paid through the registry of the
court and must be distributed proportionately according to each victim's loss
when there is more than one victim. The judgment and sentence shall identify
the party or entity to whom restitution is owed so that the state, party, or
entity may enforce the judgment. These obligations may be enforced at any
time during the ten-year period following the offender's release from total
confinement or within ten years of entry of the judgment and sentence,
whichever period is longer. Independent of the department, the party or entity
to whom the legal financial obligation is owed shall have the authority to
utilize any other remedies available to the party or entity to collect the
legal financial obligation.
(5) In
order to assist the court in setting a monthly sum that the offender must pay
during the period of supervision, the offender is required to report to the
department for purposes of preparing a recommendation to the court. When
reporting, the offender is required, under oath, to truthfully and honestly
respond to all questions concerning present, past, and future earning
capabilities and the location and nature of all property or financial assets.
The offender is further required to bring any and all documents as requested by
the department.
(6)
After completing the investigation, the department shall make a report to the
court on the amount of the monthly payment that the offender should be required
to make towards a satisfied legal financial obligation.
(7)
During the period of supervision, the department may make a recommendation to
the court that the offender's monthly payment schedule be modified so as to
reflect a change in financial circumstances. If the department sets the
monthly payment amount, the department may modify the monthly payment amount
without the matter being returned to the court. Also, during the period of
supervision, the offender may be required at the request of the department to report
to the department for the purposes of reviewing the appropriateness of the
collection schedule for the legal financial obligation. During this reporting,
the offender is required under oath to truthfully and honestly respond to all
questions concerning earning capabilities and the location and nature of all
property or financial assets. Also, the offender is required to bring any and
all documents as requested by the department in order to prepare the collection
schedule.
(8)
After the judgment and sentence or payment order is entered, the department
shall for any period of supervision be authorized to collect the legal
financial obligation from the offender. Any amount collected by the department
shall be remitted daily to the county clerk for the purposes of disbursements.
The department is authorized to accept credit cards as payment for a legal
financial obligation, and any costs incurred related to accepting credit card
payments shall be the responsibility of the offender.
(9)
The department or any obligee of the legal financial obligation may seek a
mandatory wage assignment for the purposes of obtaining satisfaction for the
legal financial obligation pursuant to RCW 9.94A.2001.
(10)
The requirement that the offender pay a monthly sum towards a legal financial
obligation constitutes a condition or requirement of a sentence and the
offender is subject to the penalties as provided in RCW 9.94A.200 for
noncompliance.
(11)
The county clerk shall provide the department with individualized monthly
billings for each offender with an unsatisfied legal financial obligation and
shall provide the department with notice of payments by such offenders no less
frequently than weekly.
Sec.
4. RCW
6.17.020 and 1994 c 189 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
Except as provided in subsections (2) ((and)), (3), and (4)
of this section, the party in whose favor a judgment of a court of record of
this state or a district court of this state has been or may be rendered, or
the assignee, may have an execution issued for the collection or enforcement of
the judgment at any time within ten years from entry of the judgment.
(2)
After July 23, 1989, a party who obtains a judgment or order of a court of
record of any state, or an administrative order entered as defined in RCW
74.20A.020(6) for accrued child support, may have an execution issued upon that
judgment or order at any time within ten years of the eighteenth birthday of
the youngest child named in the order for whom support is ordered.
(3)
After June 9, 1994, a party in whose favor a judgment has been rendered
pursuant to subsection (1) or (4) of this section may, within ninety
days before the expiration of the original ten-year period, apply to the court
that rendered the judgment for an order granting an additional ten years during
which an execution may be issued. The petitioner shall pay to the court a
filing fee equal to the filing fee for filing the first or initial paper in a
civil action in the court. When application is made to the court to grant an
additional ten years, the application shall be accompanied by a current and
updated judgment summary as outlined in RCW 4.64.030. The filing fee required
under this subsection shall be included in the judgment summary and shall be a
recoverable cost.
(4)
A party who obtains a judgment or order for restitution or other court-ordered
legal financial obligations pursuant to a criminal judgment and sentence may
execute the judgment or order any time within ten years subsequent to the entry
of the judgment and sentence or ten years following the offender's release from
total confinement as provided in chapter 9.94A RCW.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 5. Sections
1 and 2 of this act shall apply retroactively to allow courts to set
restitution in cases sentenced prior to the effective date of this act if:
(1)
The court failed to set restitution within sixty days of sentencing as required
by RCW 9.94A.140 prior to the effective date of this act;
(2)
The defendant was sentenced no more than three hundred sixty-five days before
the effective date of this act; and
(3)
The defendant is not unfairly prejudiced by the delay.
In
those cases, the court may set restitution within one hundred eighty days of
the effective date of this act or at a later hearing set by the court for good
cause.
