Bill Text: VA HB2715 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Tax; responsibility for collection and satisfaction of all fines, costs, etc.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-05 - Left in Courts of Justice [HB2715 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2019-HB2715-Introduced.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §19.2-349 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§19.2-349. Responsibility for collections; clerks to report unsatisfied fines, etc.; duties of Department of Taxation.
A. The clerk of the circuit court and district court of every county and city shall submit to the judge of his court, the Department of Taxation, the State Compensation Board and the attorney for the Commonwealth of his county or city a monthly report of all fines, costs, forfeitures, and penalties which are delinquent more than 90 days, including court-ordered restitution of a sum certain, imposed in his court for a violation of state law or a local ordinance which remain unsatisfied, including those which are delinquent in installment payments. The monthly report shall include the social security number or driver's license number of the defendant, if known, and such other information as the Department of Taxation and the Compensation Board deem appropriate. The Executive Secretary shall make the report required by this subsection on behalf of those clerks who participate in the Supreme Court's automated information system.
B. The clerk of the circuit court and district court of every
county and city shall submit quarterly to the
attorney for the Commonwealth of his county or city and any probation agency
that serves such county or city
Department of Taxation:
1. A list of all defendants with an outstanding balance of restitution ordered by the court served by such clerk. Such report shall include the defendant's name, case number, total amount of restitution ordered, amount of restitution remaining due, and last date of payment; and
2. A list of all accounts where more than 90 days have passed since an account was sent to collections and no payments have been made toward fines, costs, forfeitures, penalties, or restitution. For accounts where restitution is owed, such report shall include the defendant's name, case number, and total amount of restitution and restitution interest due.
C. It shall be the duty of the
attorney for the Commonwealth
Department of Taxation to cause proper proceedings to be
instituted for the collection and satisfaction of all fines, costs,
forfeitures, penalties, and
restitution. The attorney for
the Commonwealth shall determine whether it would be impractical or
uneconomical for such service to be rendered by the office of the attorney for
the Commonwealth. If the defendant does not enter into an
installment payment agreement under §19.2-354, the
attorney for the Commonwealth
Department of Taxation and the clerk may agree to a process
by which collection activity may be commenced 90 days after judgment.
If the attorney
for the Commonwealth does not undertake collection, he shall contract with (i)
private attorneys or private collection agencies, (ii) enter into an agreement
with a local governing body, (iii) enter into an agreement with the county or
city treasurer, or (iv) use the services of the Department of Taxation, upon
such terms and conditions as may be established by guidelines promulgated by
the Office of the Attorney General, the Executive Secretary of the Supreme
Court with the Department of Taxation and the Compensation Board. If the
attorney for the Commonwealth undertakes collection, he shall follow the
procedures established by the Department of Taxation and the Compensation
Board. Such guidelines shall not supersede contracts between attorneys for the
Commonwealth and private attorneys and collection agencies when active collection
efforts are being undertaken. As part of such contract, private attorneys or
collection agencies shall be given access to the social security number of the
defendant in order to assist in the collection effort. Any such private
attorney shall be subject to the penalties and provisions of §18.2-186.3.
The fees of any
private attorneys or collection agencies shall be paid on a contingency fee
basis out of the proceeds of the amounts collected. However, in no event shall
such attorney or collection agency receive a fee for amounts collected by the
Department of Taxation under the Setoff Debt Collection Act (§58.1-520 et
seq.). A local treasurer undertaking collection pursuant to an agreement with
the attorney for the Commonwealth may collect the administrative fee authorized
by §58.1-3958.
D. The Department
of Taxation and the State Compensation Board shall be responsible for the
collection of any judgment which remains unsatisfied or does not meet the
conditions of §19.2-354. Persons owing
such unsatisfied judgments or failing to comply with
installment payment agreements under §19.2-354 shall be subject to the
delinquent tax collection provisions of Title 58.1. The Department of Taxation
and the State Compensation Board shall establish procedures to be followed by
clerks of courts, attorneys for the Commonwealth, other state agencies and any
private attorneys or collection agents and may employ private attorneys or
collection agencies, or engage other state agencies to collect the judgment.
The Department of Taxation and the Commonwealth shall be entitled to deduct a
fee for services from amounts collected for violations of local ordinances.
The Department of Taxation and the State Compensation Board shall annually report to the Governor and the General Assembly the total of fines, costs, forfeitures, and penalties assessed, collected, and unpaid and those which remain unsatisfied or do not meet the conditions of §19.2-354 by each circuit and district court. The report shall include the procedures established by the Department of Taxation and the State Compensation Board pursuant to this section and a plan for increasing the collection of unpaid fines, costs, forfeitures, and penalties. The Auditor of Public Accounts shall annually report to the Governor, the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court and the General Assembly as to the adherence of clerks of courts, attorneys for the Commonwealth and other state agencies to the procedures established by the Department of Taxation and the State Compensation Board.
The Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court shall annually report to the Governor, the General Assembly, the Chairmen of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice, and the Virginia State Crime Commission on the total of restitution assessed, collected, and unpaid for each circuit and district court and the total of restitution collected and deposited into the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund pursuant to subsection I of §19.2-305.1 by each circuit and district court.
