| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to restitution and other court-ordered |
| 3 | payments; amending s. 775.089, F.S.; transferring the |
| 4 | responsibility for collecting and disbursing restitution |
| 5 | and other court-ordered payments from the Department of |
| 6 | Corrections to the Department of Revenue; requiring the |
| 7 | Department of Revenue to conduct a needs assessment and |
| 8 | cost-benefit analysis of the system of restitution and |
| 9 | court-ordered payments; requiring the State Technology |
| 10 | Office to provide assistance, if available; authorizing |
| 11 | the Department of Revenue to procure from a private vendor |
| 12 | services for collecting and disbursing restitution and |
| 13 | court-ordered payments; requiring that the new system for |
| 14 | collecting and disbursing restitution and other court- |
| 15 | ordered payments be operational by a specified date; |
| 16 | requiring the Department of Revenue to include performance |
| 17 | standards in its contract with a private vendor; amending |
| 18 | s. 948.09, F.S., relating to payments for the costs of |
| 19 | supervision and rehabilitation; conforming provisions to |
| 20 | changes made by the act; requiring the Department of |
| 21 | Corrections to establish a payment schedule for each |
| 22 | offender and provide this information to the Department of |
| 23 | Revenue; requiring disbursement of payments by the |
| 24 | Department of Revenue; requiring that restitution payments |
| 25 | be deposited into the Crimes Compensation Trust Fund when |
| 26 | the Department of Revenue is unable to locate a victim |
| 27 | within a certain time period; providing an effective date. |
| 28 |
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| 29 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 30 |
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| 31 | Section 1. Subsection (11) of section 775.089, Florida |
| 32 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 33 | 775.089 Restitution.-- |
| 34 | (11)(a) The court may order the clerk of the court to |
| 35 | collect and dispense restitution payments in any case. |
| 36 | (b) The Department of Revenue shall court may order the |
| 37 | Department of Corrections to collect and dispense restitution |
| 38 | and other payments ordered by the court from persons remanded to |
| 39 | the its custody or supervision of the Department of Corrections. |
| 40 | Section 2. The Department of Corrections shall transfer |
| 41 | its responsibility for collecting and disbursing restitution and |
| 42 | other payments from offenders, as provided under section |
| 43 | 775.089(11)(b), Florida Statutes, to the Department of Revenue |
| 44 | by December 31, 2006. |
| 45 | (1) To assist in this transfer, the Department of Revenue |
| 46 | shall work with the staff of the Department of Corrections to |
| 47 | conduct, by September 30, 2005, a needs assessment and cost- |
| 48 | benefit analysis of the restitution and court-ordered payment |
| 49 | system. If available, the State Technology Office shall provide |
| 50 | assistance in conducting the needs assessment. |
| 51 | (2) Based on the results of the needs assessment and cost- |
| 52 | benefit analysis, the Department of Revenue may, through |
| 53 | competitive bidding, procure services from a private vendor to |
| 54 | perform the functions necessary to collect and disburse |
| 55 | restitution and other payments from offenders. The new system |
| 56 | for collecting and disbursing restitution and other payments |
| 57 | shall be operational by December 31, 2006. |
| 58 | (3) The Department of Revenue shall include performance |
| 59 | standards in its contract with the private vendor. Such |
| 60 | standards may include the vendor's effectiveness in customer |
| 61 | service; the efficiency of the vendor in disbursing collections; |
| 62 | and the timeliness of the vendor in depositing payments, |
| 63 | disbursing payments, and correcting errors. |
| 64 | Section 3. Subsection (7) of section 948.09, Florida |
| 65 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 66 | 948.09 Payment for cost of supervision and |
| 67 | rehabilitation.-- |
| 68 | (7)(a) The department shall establish a payment plan for |
| 69 | all costs ordered by the courts for collection by the Department |
| 70 | of Revenue and a priority order for payments, except that victim |
| 71 | restitution payments authorized under s. 948.03(1)(e) s. |
| 72 | 948.03(5) take precedence over all other court-ordered payments. |
| 73 | The Department of Revenue is not required to disburse cumulative |
| 74 | amounts of less than $10 to individual payees established on |
| 75 | this payment plan. |
| 76 | (b) The Department of Corrections shall establish a |
| 77 | payment schedule for each offender and provide this payment |
| 78 | information to the Department of Revenue. The Department of |
| 79 | Revenue shall disburse payments made by an offender first to the |
| 80 | victim of the offense, then to other payees in the order of |
| 81 | priority established by the court or the Department of |
| 82 | Corrections. The Department of Revenue shall provide to the |
| 83 | Department of Corrections an automated monthly statement of the |
| 84 | amount collected from each offender and the amount disbursed. |
| 85 | (c) The Department of Revenue shall use due diligence in |
| 86 | locating victims for purposes of making restitution payments. If |
| 87 | the Department of Revenue is unable to locate a victim within |
| 88 | 180 days, the Department of Revenue shall disburse that victim's |
| 89 | restitution payments to the Crimes Compensation Trust Fund |
| 90 | established in s. 960.21. |
| 91 | Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |