BILL REQ. #:  S-0505.2 

Read first time 01/17/2003.   Referred to Committee on Children & Family Services & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to interest on legal financial obligations; and amending RCW 10.82.090.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 10.82.090 and 1995 c 291 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, financial obligations imposed in a judgment shall bear interest from the date of the judgment until payment, at the rate applicable to civil judgments. All nonrestitution interest retained by the court shall be split twenty-five percent to the state treasurer for deposit in the public safety and education account as provided in RCW 43.08.250, twenty-five percent to the state treasurer for deposit in the judicial information system account as provided in RCW 2.68.020, twenty-five percent to the county current expense fund, and twenty-five percent to the county current expense fund to fund local courts.
     (2) The court may, on motion by the offender, following the offender's release from total confinement, reduce or waive the interest on legal financial obligations levied as a result of a criminal conviction. The court may reduce or waive the interest only as an incentive for the offender to pay the principal. The court may not waive or reduce the interest on the restitution portion of the legal financial obligation. The offender must show that he or she has personally made a good faith effort to pay, that the interest accrual is causing a significant hardship, and that he or she will be unable to pay the principal and interest in full and that reduction or waiver of the interest will likely enable the offender to pay the full principal and any remaining interest thereon. For purposes of this section, "good faith effort" means that the offender has either (a) paid the principal amount in full; or (b) made twenty-four consecutive monthly payments on his or her legal financial obligations under his or her payment agreement with the court. The court may grant the motion, establish a payment schedule, and retain jurisdiction over the offender for purposes of reviewing and revising the reduction or waiver of interest. This section applies to persons convicted as adults or in juvenile court.