Bill Text: VA HB1655 | 2023 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Fines, costs, forfeitures, etc.; collection fees, assessment against incarcerated defendant.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-02-07 - Left in Courts of Justice [HB1655 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2023-HB1655-Prefiled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §19.2-349 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§19.2-349. Responsibility for collections; clerks to report unsatisfied fines, etc.; duty of attorneys for Commonwealth; duties of Department of Taxation.
A. The clerk of the circuit court and district court of every
county and city shall submit to the judge of his court, the Department of
Taxation, the State Compensation Board and the attorney for the Commonwealth of
his county or city a monthly report of all fines, costs, forfeitures and
penalties which that
are delinquent more than 90 180 days, including
court-ordered restitution of a sum certain, imposed in his court for a
violation of state law or a local ordinance which that remain unsatisfied,
including those which that
are delinquent in installment payments. The monthly report shall include the
social security number or driver's license number of the defendant, if known,
and such other information as the Department of Taxation and the Compensation
Board deem appropriate. The Executive Secretary shall make the report required
by this subsection on behalf of those clerks who participate in the Supreme
Court's automated information system.
B. The clerk of the circuit court and district court of every county and city shall submit quarterly to the attorney for the Commonwealth of his county or city and any probation agency that serves such county or city:
1. A list of all defendants with an outstanding balance of restitution ordered by the court served by such clerk. Such report shall include the defendant's name, case number, total amount of restitution ordered, amount of restitution remaining due, and last date of payment; and
2. A list of all accounts where more than 90 180 days have passed since an
account was sent to collections and no payments have been made toward fines,
costs, forfeitures, penalties, or restitution. For accounts where restitution
is owed, such report shall include the defendant's name, case number, and total
amount of restitution and restitution interest due.
C. It shall be the duty of the attorney for the Commonwealth
to cause proper proceedings to be instituted for the collection and
satisfaction of all fines, costs, forfeitures, penalties and restitution. The
attorney for the Commonwealth shall determine whether it would be impractical
or uneconomical for such service to be rendered by the office of the attorney
for the Commonwealth. If the defendant does not enter into an installment
payment agreement under §19.2-354, the attorney for the Commonwealth and the
clerk may agree to a process by which collection activity may be commenced 90 180
days after judgment.
If the attorney for the Commonwealth does not undertake collection, he shall contract with (i) private attorneys or private collection agencies, (ii) enter into an agreement with a local governing body, (iii) enter into an agreement with the county or city treasurer, or (iv) use the services of the Department of Taxation, upon such terms and conditions as may be established by guidelines promulgated by the Office of the Attorney General, the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court with the Department of Taxation and the Compensation Board. If the attorney for the Commonwealth undertakes collection, he shall follow the procedures established by the Department of Taxation and the Compensation Board. Such guidelines shall not supersede contracts between attorneys for the Commonwealth and private attorneys and collection agencies when active collection efforts are being undertaken. As part of such contract, private attorneys or collection agencies shall be given access to the social security number of the defendant in order to assist in the collection effort. Any such private attorney shall be subject to the penalties and provisions of §18.2-186.3.
The fees of any private attorneys or collection agencies shall be paid on a contingency fee basis out of the proceeds of the amounts collected. However, in no event shall such attorney or collection agency receive a fee for amounts collected by the Department of Taxation under the Setoff Debt Collection Act (§58.1-520 et seq.). A local treasurer undertaking collection pursuant to an agreement with the attorney for the Commonwealth may collect the administrative fee authorized by §58.1-3958.
D. The Department of Taxation and the State Compensation Board shall be responsible for the collection of any judgment which remains unsatisfied or does not meet the conditions of §19.2-354. Persons owing such unsatisfied judgments or failing to comply with installment payment agreements under §19.2-354 shall be subject to the delinquent tax collection provisions of Title 58.1. The Department of Taxation and the State Compensation Board shall establish procedures to be followed by clerks of courts, attorneys for the Commonwealth, other state agencies and any private attorneys or collection agents and may employ private attorneys or collection agencies, or engage other state agencies to collect the judgment. The Department of Taxation and the Commonwealth shall be entitled to deduct a fee for services from amounts collected for violations of local ordinances.
The Department of Taxation and the State Compensation Board shall annually report to the Governor and the General Assembly the total of fines, costs, forfeitures and penalties assessed, collected, and unpaid and those which remain unsatisfied or do not meet the conditions of §19.2-354 by each circuit and district court. The report shall include the procedures established by the Department of Taxation and the State Compensation Board pursuant to this section and a plan for increasing the collection of unpaid fines, costs, forfeitures and penalties. The Auditor of Public Accounts shall annually report to the Governor, the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court and the General Assembly as to the adherence of clerks of courts, attorneys for the Commonwealth and other state agencies to the procedures established by the Department of Taxation and the State Compensation Board.
The Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court shall annually report to the Governor, the General Assembly, the Chairmen of the House Committee for Courts of Justice and Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and the Virginia State Crime Commission on the total of restitution assessed, collected, and unpaid for each circuit and district court and the total of restitution collected and deposited into the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund pursuant to subsection I of §19.2-305.1 by each circuit and district court.
E. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no collection fees, including the fees of any private attorneys or collection agencies, administrative fees authorized by § 58.1-3958, or any other fees related to collection activities, shall be assessed for the collection of any fines, costs, forfeitures, penalties, or restitution imposed in a criminal case or in a case involving a traffic infraction (i) for any period during which the defendant is incarcerated and (ii) for a period of 180 days following the date of the defendant's release from incarceration if the sentence includes an active term of incarceration.
F. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any orders of restitution docketed in the name of the victim or when it is ordered that an assignment of the judgment for restitution to the victim be docketed.
G. For the purposes of this section, "incarceration" or "incarcerated" means the same as this term is defined in §8.01-195.10.
