Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Criminal Justice Restitution topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances victims restitution oversight request; audit remains on call
Summary
Senator Ashby sought a comprehensive review of state and local restitution collection and distribution to assess how much reaches victims, administrative costs, and impacts on people ordered to pay; the committee recorded votes and left the audit on call for later action.
Senator Lena Ashby asked the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to authorize a statewide review of victim restitution processes and the state restitution fund to determine whether survivors receive the compensation ordered, how collection practices vary across agencies, and how administrative fees and interest affect victims and people ordered to pay.
What the audit would do
The auditor—s planned objectives include: tracking restitution ordered, collected and outstanding over a 10-year span; identifying amounts transferred to victims versus amounts retained for administrative costs and interest; comparing local and state collection practices (including CDCR and the Franchise Tax Board—s Court Order Debt program); evaluating demographic patterns among those ordered to pay restitution; and reviewing the Victim Compensation Board—s eligibility, denials and administrative spending. The auditor estimated about 4,400 hours of work for the full scope outlined by the request.
Why it matters: advocates and academics told the committee the restitution system is fragmented and opaque. Delaney Green of the Policy Advocacy Clinic at Berkeley Law said available data are fragmented and that survivors receive only a fraction of ordered restitution; estimates she cited ranged from roughly 4% to 13% collection reaching victims depending on the measure. Esteban Nunez, with Anti-Recidivism Coalition, described personal difficulties tracking criminal restitution payments and said garnishments and administrative charges have reduced the benefit of payments to victims.
What state agencies said
Representatives of the Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB), California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), and Franchise Tax Board described their distinct roles: CalVCB provides victims compensation through a different program that can pay victims before restitution is imposed; CDCR collects from inmates' accounts for court-ordered restitution and transfers funds to the victim compensation system when a victim's location is known; and the Franchise Tax Board—s Court Order Debt program performs collections for many counties and remits collections to clients after statutorily allowed administrative recoveries.
Committee action
A motion to approve the audit was made and seconded on the floor; committee roll call recorded a majority of ayes, and the chair announced the audit would remain on call pending further committee action and scheduling.
Ending note
Proponents described the audit as essential to ensure victims receive intended compensation and to reduce administrative fragmentation. State officials said they are prepared to cooperate with the auditor. The committee did not finalize approval at the hearing and left the matter on call.
