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Committee Votes to Remove DOC Supervisory Fees, Department Says Collection Costs Exceed Revenue
Summary
Lawmakers approved H.635 to repeal the Department of Corrections' authority to collect supervisory fees (commonly $15–$30/month), forgive outstanding balances, and halt enforcement; DOC testified collections cost more than they yield and opposed repeal on revenue grounds.
The committee voted to advance H.635, a bill that repeals the Department of Corrections' authority to impose supervisory fees on people under community supervision, forgives outstanding supervisory fees, and orders DOC to cease collections and remove references from agency systems.
John Gray (presenter) outlined the statutory change: the commissioner would no longer have authority to assess or collect supervisory fees; the bill would forgive outstanding fees and require DOC to stop garnishments and private-collection actions tied to the fee. "This does not affect victim restitution," Gray said, clarifying the separate fund that handles restitution.
DOC fiscal testimony showed substantial outstanding balances (about $3.5 million past-due) but also that collection operations cost the department significant staff time and outside fees; a DOC chart presented during testimony shows collections in recent years of roughly $300,000 against operating costs that exceed that figure. Scott Moore and DOC staff said DOT operations lose money on the activity and that many past-due accounts are years old and unlikely to be collected.
Senator Hardy moved the bill and committee members voted the measure out of committee; committee discussion emphasized the policy trade-off between administrative fairness and departmental revenue.
