IB
Union Calendar No. 6
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 665
[Report No. 104–16]
To control crime by mandatory victim restitution.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 25, 1995
Mr. MCCOLLUM introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
FEBRUARY 2, 1995
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 25, 1995]
A BILL
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 following:
‘‘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 im-
pose 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 prepon-
derance of evidence, was harmed physically, emotionally,
or pecuniarily, by unlawful conduct of the defendant dur-
ing—
‘‘(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 fol-
lowing 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 de-
cides 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 offender;
or
‘‘(B) the fact that a victim has received or is en-
titled 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.
‘‘(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 circumstances
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 eco-
nomic 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 provide
the compensation, but the restitution order shall provide
that all restitution to victims required by the order be paid
to the victims before any restitution is paid to such a pro-
vider of compensation.
‘‘(2) The issuance of a restitution order shall not affect
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 res-
titution order fully compensate the victim for the loss, at
which time a person that has provided compensation 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 prop-
erty made pursuant to the sentence of the court shall
be made by the offender to an entity designated by the
Director of the Administrative Office of the United
States Courts for accounting and payment by the en-
tity in accordance with this subsection;
‘‘(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 current
status in meeting those obligations, unless, after
efforts have been made to enforce the restitution
order and it appears that compliance cannot be
obtained, the court determines that continued
recordkeeping under this subparagraph 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 obtain
compliance with the restitution order. In determining what
action to take, the court shall consider the defendant’s em-
ployment status, earning ability, financial resources, the
willfulness in failing to comply with the restitution 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.’’.