104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 665
AN ACT
To control crime by mandatory victim restitution.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Victim Restitution Act
of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. MANDATORY RESTITUTION AND OTHER PROVI-
SIONS.
(a) ORDER OF RESTITUTION.—Section 3663 of title
18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) in paragraph (1)—
(i) by striking ‘‘may order, in addition
to or, in the case of a misdemeanor, in lieu
of any other penalty authorized by law’’
and inserting ‘‘shall order’’; and
(ii) by adding at the end the follow-
ing: ‘‘The requirement of this paragraph
does not affect the power of the court to
impose any other penalty authorized by
law. In the case of a misdemeanor, the
court may impose restitution in lieu of any
other penalty authorized by law.’’;
(B) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(4) In addition to ordering restitution to the victim
of the offense of which a defendant is convicted, a court
may order restitution to any person who, as shown by a
preponderance of evidence, was harmed physically, emo-
tionally, or pecuniarily, by unlawful conduct of the defend-
ant during—
‘‘(A) the criminal episode during which the of-
fense occurred; or
‘‘(B) the course of a scheme, conspiracy, or pat-
tern of unlawful activity related to the offense.’’;
(2) in subsection (b)(1)(B) by striking ‘‘imprac-
tical’’ and inserting ‘‘impracticable’’;
(3) in subsection (b)(2) by inserting ‘‘emotional
or’’ after ‘‘resulting in’’;
(4) in subsection (b)—
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para-
graph (4);
(B) by redesignating paragraph (5) as
paragraph (6); and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (4) the
following new paragraph:
‘‘(5) in any case, reimburse the victim for lost
income and necessary child care, transportation, and
other expenses related to participation in the inves-
tigation or prosecution of the offense or attendance
at proceedings related to the offense; and’’;
(5) in subsection (c) by striking ‘‘If the court
decides to order restitution under this section, the’’
and inserting ‘‘The’’;
(6) by striking subsections (d), (e), (f), (g), and
(h);
(7) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection
(m); and
(8) by inserting after subsection (c) the follow-
ing:
‘‘(d)(1) The court shall order restitution to a victim
in the full amount of the victim’s losses as determined by
the court and without consideration of—
‘‘(A) the economic circumstances of the of-
fender; or
‘‘(B) the fact that a victim has received or is
entitled to receive compensation with respect to a
loss from insurance or any other source.
‘‘(2) Upon determination of the amount of restitution
owed to each victim, the court shall specify in the restitu-
tion order the manner in which and the schedule according
to which the restitution is to be paid, in consideration of—
‘‘(A) the financial resources and other assets of
the offender;
‘‘(B) projected earnings and other income of
the offender; and
‘‘(C) any financial obligations of the offender,
including obligations to dependents.
‘‘(3) A restitution order may direct the offender to
make a single, lump-sum payment, partial payment at
specified intervals, or such in-kind payments as may be
agreeable to the victim and the offender. A restitution
order shall direct the offender to give appropriate notice
to victims and other persons in cases where there are mul-
tiple victims or other persons who may receive restitution,
and where the identity of such victims and other persons
can be reasonably determined.
‘‘(4) An in-kind payment described in paragraph (3)
may be in the form of—
‘‘(A) return of property;
‘‘(B) replacement of property; or
‘‘(C) services rendered to the victim or to a per-
son or organization other than the victim.
‘‘(e) When the court finds that more than 1 offender
has contributed to the loss of a victim, the court may make
each offender liable for payment of the full amount of res-
titution or may apportion liability among the offenders to
reflect the level of contribution and economic cir-
cumstances of each offender.
‘‘(f) When the court finds that more than 1 victim
has sustained a loss requiring restitution by an offender,
the court shall order full restitution to each victim but
may provide for different payment schedules to reflect the
economic circumstances of each victim.
‘‘(g)(1) If the victim has received or is entitled to re-
ceive compensation with respect to a loss from insurance
or any other source, the court shall order that restitution
be paid to the person who provided or is obligated to pro-
vide the compensation, but the restitution order shall pro-
vide that all restitution to victims required by the order
be paid to the victims before any restitution is paid to
such a provider of compensation.
‘‘(2) The issuance of a restitution order shall not af-
fect the entitlement of a victim to receive compensation
with respect to a loss from insurance or any other source
until the payments actually received by the victim under
the restitution order fully compensate the victim for the
loss, at which time a person that has provided compensa-
tion to the victim shall be entitled to receive any payments
remaining to be paid under the restitution order.
‘‘(3) Any amount paid to a victim under an order of
restitution shall be set off against any amount later recov-
ered as compensatory damages by the victim in—
‘‘(A) any Federal civil proceeding; and
‘‘(B) any State civil proceeding, to the extent
provided by the law of the State.
‘‘(h) A restitution order shall provide that—
‘‘(1) all fines, penalties, costs, restitution pay-
ments and other forms of transfers of money or
property made pursuant to the sentence of the court
shall be made by the offender to an entity des-
ignated by the Director of the Administrative Office
of the United States Courts for accounting and pay-
ment by the entity in accordance with this sub-
section;
‘‘(2) the entity designated by the Director of
the Administrative Office of the United States
Courts shall—
‘‘(A) log all transfers in a manner that
tracks the offender’s obligations and the cur-
rent status in meeting those obligations, unless,
after efforts have been made to enforce the res-
titution order and it appears that compliance
cannot be obtained, the court determines that
continued recordkeeping under this subpara-
graph would not be useful; and
‘‘(B) notify the court and the interested
parties when an offender is 30 days in arrears
in meeting those obligations; and
‘‘(3) the offender shall advise the entity des-
ignated by the Director of the Administrative Office
of the United States Courts of any change in the of-
fender’s address during the term of the restitution
order.
‘‘(i) A restitution order shall constitute a lien against
all property of the offender and may be recorded in any
Federal or State office for the recording of liens against
real or personal property.
‘‘(j) Compliance with the schedule of payment and
other terms of a restitution order shall be a condition of
any probation, parole, or other form of release of an of-
fender. If a defendant fails to comply with a restitution
order, the court may revoke probation or a term of super-
vised release, modify the term or conditions of probation
or a term of supervised release, hold the defendant in con-
tempt of court, enter a restraining order or injunction,
order the sale of property of the defendant, accept a per-
formance bond, or take any other action necessary to ob-
tain compliance with the restitution order. In determining
what action to take, the court shall consider the defend-
ant’s employment status, earning ability, financial re-
sources, the willfulness in failing to comply with the res-
titution order, and any other circumstances that may have
a bearing on the defendant’s ability to comply with the
restitution order.
‘‘(k) An order of restitution may be enforced—
‘‘(1) by the United States—
‘‘(A) in the manner provided for the collec-
tion and payment of fines in subchapter B of
chapter 229 of this title; or
‘‘(B) in the same manner as a judgment in
a civil action; and
‘‘(2) by a victim named in the order to receive
the restitution, in the same manner as a judgment
in a civil action.
‘‘(l) A victim or the offender may petition the court
at any time to modify a restitution order as appropriate
in view of a change in the economic circumstances of the
offender.’’.
(b) PROCEDURE FOR ISSUING ORDER OF RESTITU-
TION.—Section 3664 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by striking subsection (a);
(2) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), (d),
and (e) as subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d);
(3) by amending subsection (a), as redesignated
by paragraph (2), to read as follows:
‘‘(a) The court may order the probation service of the
court to obtain information pertaining to the amount of
loss sustained by any victim as a result of the offense,
the financial resources of the defendant, the financial
needs and earning ability of the defendant and the defend-
ant’s dependents, and such other factors as the court
deems appropriate. The probation service of the court
shall include the information collected in the report of
presentence investigation or in a separate report, as the
court directs.’’; and
(4) by adding at the end thereof the following
new subsection:
‘‘(e) The court may refer any issue arising in connec-
tion with a proposed order of restitution to a magistrate
or special master for proposed findings of fact and rec-
ommendations as to disposition, subject to a de novo de-
termination of the issue by the court.’’.
Passed the House of Representatives February 7,
1995.
Attest:
Clerk.
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 665
AN ACT
To control crime by mandatory victim restitution.