Bill Text: VA SB854 | 2017 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Unpaid court fines, etc.; increases grace period for collection.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-04-05 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0806) [SB854 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2017-SB854-Prefiled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§19.2-349 and 19.2-354 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§19.2-349. Responsibility for collections; clerks to report unsatisfied fines, etc.; duty of attorneys for Commonwealth; 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 30 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. It shall be the duty of the attorney for the Commonwealth
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 and the
clerk may agree to a process by which collection activity may be commenced 30
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.
C. 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.
§19.2-354. Authority of court to order payment of fine, costs, forfeitures, penalties or restitution in installments or upon other terms and conditions; community work in lieu of payment.
A. Whenever (i) a defendant, convicted of a traffic infraction
or a violation of any criminal law of the Commonwealth or of any political
subdivision thereof, or found not innocent in the case of a juvenile, is sentenced
to pay a fine, restitution, forfeiture or penalty and (ii) the defendant is
unable to make payment of the fine, restitution, forfeiture, or penalty and
costs within 30 90 days of sentencing, the
court shall order the defendant to pay such fine, restitution, forfeiture or
penalty and any costs which the defendant may be required to pay in deferred
payments or installments. The court assessing the fine, restitution,
forfeiture, or penalty and costs may authorize the clerk to establish and
approve individual deferred or installment payment agreements. Any payment
agreement authorized under this section shall be consistent with the Rules of
Supreme Court of Virginia, including any required minimum payments or other
required conditions. The requirements established by the Rules of Supreme Court
of Virginia shall be posted in the clerk's office and on the court's website,
if a website is available. As a condition of every such agreement, a defendant
who enters into an installment or deferred payment agreement shall promptly
inform the court of any change of mailing address during the term of the
agreement. If the defendant is unable to make payment within 30
90 days of sentencing, the court may assess a one-time fee
not to exceed $10 to cover the costs of management of the defendant's account
until such account is paid in full. This one-time fee shall not apply to cases
in which costs are assessed pursuant to §17.1-275.1, 17.1-275.2, 17.1-275.3,
17.1-275.4, 17.1-275.7, 17.1-275.8, or 17.1-275.9. Installment or deferred
payment agreements shall include terms for payment if the defendant
participates in a program as provided in subsection B or C. The court, if such
sum or sums are not paid in full by the date ordered, shall proceed in
accordance with §19.2-358.
B. When a person sentenced to the Department of Corrections or a local correctional facility owes any fines, costs, forfeitures, restitution or penalties, he shall be required as a condition of participating in any work release, home/electronic incarceration or nonconsecutive days program as set forth in §53.1-60, 53.1-131, 53.1-131.1, or 53.1-131.2 to either make full payment or make payments in accordance with his installment or deferred payment agreement while participating in such program. If, after the person has an installment or deferred payment agreement, the person fails to pay as ordered, his participation in the program may be terminated until all fines, costs, forfeitures, restitution and penalties are satisfied. The Director of the Department of Corrections and any sheriff or other administrative head of any local correctional facility shall withhold such ordered payments from any amounts due to such person. Distribution of the money collected shall be made in the following order of priority to:
1. Meet the obligation of any judicial or administrative order to provide support and such funds shall be disbursed according to the terms of such order;
2. Pay any fines, restitution or costs as ordered by the court;
3. Pay travel and other such expenses made necessary by his work release employment or participation in an education or rehabilitative program, including the sums specified in §53.1-150; and
4. Defray the offender's keep.
The balance shall be credited to the offender's account or sent to his family in an amount the offender so chooses.
The Board of Corrections shall promulgate regulations governing the receipt of wages paid to persons participating in such programs, the withholding of payments and the disbursement of appropriate funds.
C. The court shall establish a program and may provide an option to any person upon whom a fine and costs have been imposed to discharge all or part of the fine or costs by earning credits for the performance of community service work before or after imprisonment. The program shall specify the rate at which credits are earned and provide for the manner of applying earned credits against the fine or costs. The court shall have such other authority as is reasonably necessary for or incidental to carrying out this program.
D. When the court has authorized deferred payment or installment payments, the clerk shall give notice to the defendant that upon his failure to pay as ordered he may be fined or imprisoned pursuant to § 19.2-358 and his privilege to operate a motor vehicle will be suspended pursuant to §46.2-395.
E. The failure of the defendant to enter into a deferred payment or installment payment agreement with the court or the failure of the defendant to make payments as ordered by the agreement shall allow the Tax Commissioner to act in accordance with §19.2-349 to collect all fines, costs, forfeitures and penalties.
