ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
restitution; work programs;
education
Purpose
Changes work and
compensation requirements and educational and vocational programs for youth
committed to or on conditional liberty from an Arizona Department of Juvenile
Corrections (ADJC) facility.
Establishes an unfunded juvenile corrections restitution fund for the
payment of victim restitution and monetary assessments.
Background
As part of sentencing, a
court may order a juvenile offender to pay restitution to the crime victim or
victims. However, an incarcerated
juvenile’s ability to earn income to satisfy restitution obligations may be
limited by the juvenile’s age, work skills and other circumstances. Consequently, juveniles may enter adulthood
facing civil judgments and garnishment of wages and victims may remain
uncompensated for their losses.
H.B. 2284 creates a juvenile
corrections restitution fund for the payment of restitution and monetary
assessments by juveniles who are financially unable to pay or who are otherwise
unable to be employed. Additionally,
the legislation enables ADJC to establish work programs for incarcerated youth
and youth on conditional liberty and removes the $1.00 per hour cap on wages
that can currently be paid to juveniles under the jurisdiction of ADJC who are
involved in noncontracted employment.
There is no anticipated
fiscal impact upon the state general fund.
Provisions
1. Expands, from youth confined to a secure care facility to youth granted conditional liberty, the applicability of the ADJC’s work requirement for committed youth. Youth on conditional liberty may receive work assignments commensurate with the abilities and limitations of the youth.
2. Removes the $1 per hour cap on compensation paid to committed youth for noncontracted employment through the work program.
3. Modifies, from two-thirds to a minimum of two-thirds, the fraction of compensation paid to youth in a secure care facility that must be set aside to satisfy a restitution order. If the youth is not subject to a restitution order, this set-aside is extended to the payment of any monetary assessments.
4. Allows the ADJC to enter into contracts with this state, political subdivisions of this state and private entities in order to provide employment or vocational education experience. Exempts these contracts from the prohibition on the state competing with private enterprise. Requires monies generated from these contracts to be deposited into the newly established juvenile corrections restitution fund.
Community Service (Community Work Program)
5. Allows, with the approval of the juvenile court and the victim, community service hours to be substituted for monetary restitution at a rate deemed reasonable by ADJC.
6. Allows the ADJC to credit a youth for community service, but monies credited may only be used to satisfy a restitution or monetary assessment order.
7. Establishes the juvenile corrections restitution fund (fund) consisting of federal, state and local appropriations and grants and donations from public or private sources. Monies in the fund are exempt from lapsing and continuously appropriated.
8. Requires monies in the fund to be used for the community work program to credit youth for community service. A youth will receive credit against the fund for community service, and corresponding fund monies will be allocated to the youth’s victims to cover restitution owed by the youth.
9. Allows monies in the fund to be used for work as well as community service, but it is unclear how credits will be processed.
10. Requires the agency providing the work to supervise the youth’s work.
11. Requires the youth to be credited for hours worked at a rate set by the Director of ADJC.
12. Allows for the payment of monetary assessments from the fund, but it is unclear how these payments will be made.
13. Allows ADJC to apply to the Internal Revenue Service to a ruling that donations to the fund are tax deductible.
14. Caps administrative expenses from the fund at ten percent.
15. Requires, beginning in 2002, ADJC to report annually by August 15 to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on fund revenues and expenditures.
16. Permits, as deemed appropriate by the ADJC, youth who are confined in a secure care facility and who have received either a high school diploma or certificate of equivalency to participate in regular classes or educational programming provided by the ADJC.
17. Makes changes in terminology.
18. Removes obsolete language.
19. Makes clarifying, conforming and technical changes.
20. Provides for a general effective date.
JUD 1/30/01 DPA 9-0-0-1-0
APPROP 2/26/01 DPA 13-0-0-3-0
3rd Read 53-1-6-0-0
Prepared by Senate Staff
March 23, 2001