GA Code § 17-15-13 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 17 - Criminal Procedure|Chapter 15 - Victim Compensation|§ 17-15-13. Debt to State Created; Payment as Condition of Probation or Parole; Payment Into Fund

  Any award or payment of benefits under this chapter shall create a debt due and owing to the state by any person found in a court of competent jurisdiction of this state to have committed an act resulting in compensation being paid pursuant to this chapter.   A court, when placing on probation any person who owes a debt to the state as a consequence of a crime, may set as a condition of probation the payment of the debt or a portion of the debt to the state. The court may also set the schedule or amounts of payments subject to modification based on change of circumstances.   The State Board of Pardons and Paroles shall also have the right to make payment of the debt or a portion of the debt to the state a condition of parole.   When a child is adjudicated for committing a delinquent act in a juvenile court proceeding involving a crime upon which a claim under this chapter can be made, the juvenile court in its discretion may order that the child pay the debt to the state as an adult would have to pay had an adult committed the crime. Any assessments so ordered may be made a condition of probation as provided in Code Section 15-11-601.   Payments authorized or required under this Code section shall be paid into the fund. The board shall coordinate the development of policies and procedures for the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, the Department of Community Supervision, and the Administrative Office of the Courts to assure that restitution programs are administered in an effective manner to increase payments into the fund.   In every case where an individual is serving under active probation supervision and paying a supervision fee, $9.00 per month shall be added to any supervision fee collected by any entity authorized to collect such fees and shall be paid into the fund. This subsection shall apply to probationers supervised by community supervision officers or private probation officers or probation officers pursuant to Article 6 of Chapter 8 of Title 42. The probation supervising entity shall collect and forward the $9.00 fee to the board by the end of each month.     (Code 1981, §17-15-13, enacted by Ga. L. 1988, p. 591, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 840, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 20, § 9; Ga. L. 2002, p. 843, § 4; Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 4-20/HB 242; Ga. L. 2014, p. 354, § 1/SB 187; Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 5-39/HB 310; Ga. L. 2016, p. 864, § 17/HB 737.)   Editor's notes.   - Ga. L. 2002, p. 843, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "The General Assembly declares that this Act is enacted pursuant to the provisions of Article III, Section VI, Paragraph VI(f) of the Constitution of the State of Georgia."   Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 5-1/HB 242, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2014, and shall apply to all offenses which occur and juvenile proceedings commenced on and after such date. Any offense occurring before January 1, 2014, shall be governed by the statute in effect at the time of such offense and shall be considered a prior adjudication for the purpose of imposing a disposition that provides for a different penalty for subsequent adjudications, of whatever class, pursuant to this Act. The enactment of this Act shall not affect any prosecutions for acts occurring before January 1, 2014, and shall not act as an abatement of any such prosecutions."   Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 6-1/HB 310, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that this Act shall apply to sentences entered on or after July 1, 2015.   Law reviews.   - For article on the 2015 amendment of this Code section, see 32 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 231 (2015). For note on the 2002 amendment of this Code section, see 19 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 124 (2002).   JUDICIAL DECISIONS   Restitution award not supported by evidence.    - Trial court erred in ordering the defendant to pay restitution in the amount of $7,584.35 to the Crime Victim Compensation Program and $1,000 in token restitution to the victim because the record contained no evidence to support the awards as the state presented no evidence supporting the state's request for $7,584.35, and the record did not show that the trial court considered the factors outlined in O.C.G.A. § 17-14-10(a) before requiring restitution as a condition of probation. Watts v. State, 321 Ga. App. 289, 739 S.E.2d 129 (2013).