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Senate Judiciary Committee concurs in House amendments to SB 544 changing routing and use of federal relief funds for incarcerated people
Summary
The committee voted to concur in two House amendments to SB 544, which add municipal treasurers as a routing option and direct funds to pay court fines, fees and restitution; if no fines exist, funds will be split between the inmate welfare fund and the Division of Correctional Inmate Care and Custody Fund.
Speaker 1, a committee member, explained to the Senate Judiciary Committee that House amendments to SB 544 change who may receive federal relief or stimulus funds on behalf of people in correctional custody and how those funds may be used. "The bill was amended in the house…requiring a person in custody of a correctional facility to use funds from a federal relief or stimulus program," Speaker 1 said, and added that DCC and counsel had reviewed the changes.
The House amendments add the city treasurer in a municipality — in addition to a county circuit clerk — as a route for those funds so they can be applied to court fines, fees, costs and restitution for incarcerated people. Speaker 1 said an inmate had written a handwritten letter expressing that the change "would help because he wanted to pay his fines and restitution, get his life started out better."
Speaker 1 also said the House added a provision specifying that when an incarcerated person receives such funds but has no outstanding court fines, fees, costs or restitution, the funds will be distributed in equal parts to the inmate welfare fund (cited in the transcript as "established under 12/2007") and the Division of Correctional Inmate Care and Custody Fund account.
After the explanation, the committee moved to concur in the House amendments. A motion to adopt amendment 1 was made and seconded (motion identified in transcript as moved by Ballinger and seconded by Hendren) and members signified assent by voice vote; the motion to concur carried. The committee then moved to concur in amendment 2 (moved by Hendren and seconded by Garner) and again recorded the motion as carried by voice vote. The committee chair announced that the House amendments had been concurred.
The actions were recorded in the hearing as voice votes; no roll-call tallies were entered in the transcript. The changes now agreed to by the committee will be reflected in the committee’s concurrence to the House. The committee adjourned and is scheduled to resume consideration of pending items at the next meeting.
