SGC votes to oppose bill increasing mandatory victim-penalty assessment after contested debate

The Sensing Guideline Commission debated House Bill 2430 — described in the meeting as the victim-of-crime penalty assessment bill — at length on Feb. 6, 2026. The bill would raise statutory victim-penalty-assessment amounts (for felonies/gross misdemeanors and misdemeanors), allow an additional surcharge intended to support victim services, and require the court to impose the assessment unless the defendant provides documentary proof of indigency.

Representative Diaz told the commission the 2023 legislative changes and subsequent administration cut funding for victims’ services, leaving local offices with significantly reduced resources and layoffs of victim advocates. Diaz said the intention of the current bill is to restore orders for nonindigent defendants and to make an inflationary adjustment because the fee has not been updated since 1995.

Several commissioners, including Judge Swan and Miss Brandes, raised concerns about shifting operational burdens to defendants (and the courts) rather than restoring state funding, the practical difficulty of requiring documentary proof from indigent or un-housed defendants, and whether the penalty assessment could exceed statutory maximums for fines in some classes of offense.

Judge Swan moved to oppose the bill and Miss Brandes seconded. The chair called the roll; the transcript records the final motion as carrying (chair: "So that motion carries 6 to 5"). The transcript also records four abstentions during the roll call; the recorded vote totals and hand counts in the transcript varied during the roll, and the meeting record includes inconsistent interim counts. The SGC therefore registered a motion carried to oppose HB 2430 and staff will report the commission’s 'oppose' position.