BILL REQ. #:  S-4250.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/01/10.   

     AN ACT Relating to the modification of restitution in juvenile cases; and amending RCW 13.40.190.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 13.40.190 and 2004 c 120 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) In its dispositional order, the court shall require the respondent to make restitution to any persons who have suffered loss or damage as a result of the offense committed by the respondent. In addition, restitution may be ordered for 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, pursuant to a plea agreement, are not prosecuted.
     (b) Restitution may include the costs of counseling reasonably related to the offense.
     (c) The payment of restitution shall be in addition to any punishment which is imposed pursuant to the other provisions of this chapter.
     (d) The court may determine the amount, terms, and conditions of the restitution including a payment plan extending up to ten years if the court determines that the respondent does not have the means to make full restitution over a shorter period. ((Restitution may include the costs of counseling reasonably related to the offense.)) For the purposes of this section, the respondent shall remain under the court's jurisdiction for a maximum term of ten years after the respondent's eighteenth birthday and, during this ten-year period, the restitution portion of the dispositional order may be modified as to amount, terms, and conditions at any time. Prior to the expiration of the ten-year period, the juvenile court may extend the judgment for the payment of restitution for an additional ten years.
     (e) If the respondent participated in the crime with another person or other persons, all such participants shall be jointly and severally responsible for the payment of restitution. ((For the purposes of this section, the respondent shall remain under the court's jurisdiction for a maximum term of ten years after the respondent's eighteenth birthday. Prior to the expiration of the ten-year period, the juvenile court may extend the judgment for the payment of restitution for an additional ten years.))
     (f) At any time, the court may determine that the respondent is not required to pay, or may relieve the respondent of the requirement to pay, full or partial restitution to any insurance provider authorized under Title 48 RCW if the respondent reasonably satisfies the court that he or she does not have the means to make full or partial restitution to the insurance provider and could not reasonably acquire the means to pay the insurance provider the restitution over a ten-year period.
     (2) Regardless of the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the court shall order restitution in all cases where the victim is entitled to benefits under the crime victims' compensation act, chapter 7.68 RCW. If the court does not order restitution and the victim of the crime has been determined to be entitled to benefits under the crime victims' compensation act, the department of labor and industries, as administrator of the crime victims' compensation program, may petition the court within one year of entry of the disposition order for entry of a restitution order. Upon receipt of a petition from the department of labor and industries, the court shall hold a restitution hearing and shall enter a restitution order.
     (3) If an order includes restitution as one of the monetary assessments, the county clerk shall make disbursements to victims named in the order. The restitution to victims named in the order shall be paid prior to any payment for other penalties or monetary assessments.
     (4) For purposes of this section, "victim" means any person who has sustained emotional, psychological, physical, or financial injury to person or property as a direct result of the offense charged. "Victim" may also include a known parent or guardian of a victim who is a minor child or is not a minor child but is incapacitated, incompetent, disabled, or deceased.
     (5) A respondent under obligation to pay restitution may petition the court for modification of the restitution order.