Source: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/legdoc.cfm?URL=/docs/2008/bills/passed/H-334.HTM
Timestamp: 2018-06-21 04:43:05
Document Index: 178790164

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 5312', '§ 5312', '§ 5362', '§ 5363', '§ 5365', '§ 1213', '§ 1249', '§ 7282', '§ 6607', '§ 6607']

AN ACT RELATING TO RESTITUTION and notice to prosecution of confidential records disclosure
Sec. 2. 13 V.S.A. § 5312 is amended to read:
§ 5312. VICTIM’S INTEREST IN SPEEDY PROSECUTION
(a) The prosecutor’s office, if practicable, shall make every effort to inform a victim of a listed crime of any pending motion that may substantially delay the prosecution any deposition, change of plea, trial, sentencing hearing, or restitution hearing. The prosecutor shall inform the court of how the victim was notified and the victim’s position on the motion, if any. In the event the victim was not notified, the prosecutor shall inform the court why notification did not take place.
Sec. 3. 13 V.S.A. § 5362 is amended to read:
(4) Investigate and verify the amount of insurance or other payments paid to or for the benefit of a victim, and adjust reduce the amount collected or to be collected from the offender or disbursed to the victim from the crime victims’ restitution special fund accordingly. The restitution unit shall submit to the court a proposed revised restitution order stipulated to by the victim and the unit, with copies provided to the victim and the offender. No hearing shall be required, and the court shall amend the judgment order to reflect the amount stipulated to by the victim and the restitution unit.
(6) Report offenders’ payment histories to credit reporting agencies, provided that the unit shall not report information regarding offenders who are incarcerated. The unit shall not make a report under this subdivision until after it has notified the offender of the proposed report by first class mail or other like means to give actual notice, and provided the offender a period not to exceed 20 days to contest the accuracy of the information with the unit. The unit shall immediately notify each credit bureau organization to which information has been furnished of any increases or decreases in the amount of restitution owed by the offender.
Sec. 4. 13 V.S.A. § 5363 is amended to read:
(3) If a victim who is entitled to receive an advance payment of restitution from the crime victims’ restitution special fund cannot be located, the restitution unit shall report the amount to the treasurer within the time limits provided by subsection 1247(d) of Title 27, and the treasurer shall report it as unclaimed property. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in no event shall the advance payments from the restitution special fund to which the victim is entitled be subject to ultimate deposit in the general or education fund.
Sec. 5. 13 V.S.A. § 5365 is added to read:
(1) “Depositor” means an owner of an account in a financial institution and includes “share account holders” of credit unions.
(2) “Financial institution” means a savings and loan association, a trust company, a savings bank, an industrial bank, a banking organization, a commercial bank, or a credit union organized under the laws of this state or authorized to do business in this state.
(4) “Offender” means a person who owes restitution.
(5) “Restitution unit” means the state of Vermont restitution unit.
(6) “Restitution” means an unsatisfied obligation to pay restitution that was ordered in connection with a criminal case and about which, prior to the issuance of the order, the offender had notice and an opportunity to contest the amount owed.
(d) The financial institution shall not provide notice in any form to a depositor identified by the restitution unit pursuant to this section. Failure to provide notice to a depositor shall not constitute a violation of the financial institution’s duty of good faith to its customers.
(2) For purposes of this section, “material loss” means uninsured property loss, uninsured out-of-pocket monetary loss, uninsured lost wages, and uninsured medical expenses.
(b)(1) When ordered, restitution may include:
(1)(A) return of property wrongfully taken from the victim;
(2)(B) cash, credit card, or installment payments paid to the restitution unit; or
(3)(C) payments in kind, if acceptable to the victim.
(2) In the event of a victim’s crime-related death, the court may, at the request of the restitution unit, direct the unit to pay up to $10,000.00 from the restitution fund to the victim’s estate to cover future uninsured material losses caused by the death.
(2) The offender’s current ability to pay restitution, based on all financial information available to the court, including information provided by the offender.
(d)(1) An order of restitution shall establish the amount of the material loss incurred by the victim, which shall be the restitution judgment order. In the event the offender is unable to pay the restitution judgment order at the time of sentencing, the court shall establish a restitution payment schedule for the offender based upon the offender’s current and reasonably foreseeable ability to pay, subject to modification under subsection (k) of this section. Notwithstanding chapter 113 of Title 12 or any other provision of law, interest shall not accrue on a restitution judgment.
(i) include the offender’s name, address, and social security Social Security number;
(ii) include the name, address, and telephone number of the offender’s employer; and
(iii) require the offender, until his or her restitution obligation is satisfied, to notify the restitution unit within 30 days if the offender’s address or employment changes, including providing the name, address, and telephone number of each new employer.
(l) If the offender fails to pay restitution as ordered by the court, the restitution unit may file an action to enforce the restitution order in superior or small claims court. After an enforcement action is filed, any further proceedings related to the action shall be heard in the court where it was filed. The court shall set the matter for hearing and shall provide notice to the restitution unit, the victim, and the offender. If the court determines the offender has failed to comply with the restitution order, the court may take any action the court deems necessary to ensure the offender will make the required restitution payment, including:
(3) ordering the offender’s wages withheld pursuant to subsection (n) of this section; or
(m)(1) Any monies owed by the state to an offender who is under a restitution order, including lottery winnings and tax refunds, shall be used to discharge the restitution order to the full extent of the unpaid total financial losses, regardless of the payment schedule established by the courts.
(n)(1) The sentencing court at the time of sentencing, or the superior or small claims court in a subsequent proceeding, may issue a wage withholding order directing All restitution orders made or modified on or after January 1, 2008 shall include an order for wage withholding unless the court in its discretion finds good cause not to order wage withholding or the parties have entered into an alternative arrangement by written agreement which is affirmatively stated in the order. The wage withholding order shall direct current and subsequent employers of the offender to pay a portion of the offender’s wages directly to the restitution unit until the offender’s restitution obligation is satisfied. The wages of the offender shall be exempt as follows:
(2) The court shall transmit all wage withholding orders issued under this section to the restitution unit, which shall forward the orders to the offender’s employers. Upon receipt of a wage withholding order from the restitution unit, an employer shall:
(E) notify the restitution unit within 10 days of the date the offender’s employment is terminated.
(3) In addition to the amounts withheld pursuant to this section, the employer may retain not more than $5.00 per month from the offender’s wages as compensation for administrative costs incurred.
(o) An obligation to pay restitution is part of a criminal sentence and is:
Sec. 7. 23 V.S.A. § 1213c(j) is amended to read:
Sec. 8. 27 V.S.A. § 1249 is amended to read:
(1) shall notify all apparent owners of unclaimed property in accordance with this section by means of posting on the treasurer’s website on the internet;
Sec. 9. 13 V.S.A. § 7282 is amended to read:
(9) For any offense or violation committed after June 30, 2003, an amount equal to 15 percent of the fine imposed for the offense, rounded upward to the nearest whole dollar, which shall be deposited into the crime victims’ restitution special fund established by section 5363 of this title.
Sec. 10. REPEAL OF SUNSET FOR RESTITUTION UNIT AND CRIME
VICTIMS’ RESTITUTION SPECIAL FUND
Sec. 11. 13 V.S.A. § 6607 is added to read:
§ 6607. DISCLOSURE OF CONFIDENTIAL RECORDS; NOTICE TO
When a defendant seeks access to a victim’s school records, or to any other records of a victim which are by law confidential, the defendant shall provide written notice to the prosecutor that the records have been requested prior to the service of any subpoena requesting the records.
The joint fiscal office, in consultation with the Vermont center for crime victims services, shall report to the house and senate committees on judiciary on or before December 15, 2007 regarding the present and projected financial health and status of the crime victims’ restitution special fund established pursuant to section 5363 of Title 13. The report shall include:
(1) a projection of the fund’s financial balances in 2012 and 2017, taking into account all of the fund’s revenues and expenditures, including surcharges on traffic and criminal fines; and
(2) an analysis of the financial cost of a policy change proposal to allow payment from the fund of restitution which has been ordered by a court during the years 1988–2004 but not collected.
Sec. 9 of this act shall take effect on July 1, 2012.