Phoenix, Arizona
municipal
incarceration costs
Requires a court to order a convicted misdemeanor offender who is sentenced to incarceration to reimburse the city, town or county responsible for the offender’s incarceration costs.
At present, cities and counties incur the expense of incarcerating defendants who are housed in or sentenced to a county jail. Incarceration costs for persons charged or convicted by a municipal court are the responsibility of cities, whereas counties sustain expenses for individuals who are charged in the superior court or a justice court.
Law states that a court may order a defendant who is convicted and sentenced to a term of incarceration for reckless driving or aggressive driving, which are misdemeanor offenses, to reimburse the political subdivision responsible for the defendant’s incarceration costs. However, defendants who are convicted of driving under the influence (DUI), which is also a misdemeanor offense, are required to reimburse incarceration costs. The incarceration costs, which are determined on a per day, per person basis, may be fully or partially waived if the defendant establishes an inability to pay.
H.B. 2298 extends incarceration cost reimbursement to all misdemeanor offenders.
No known impact on the state general fund is associated with this legislation.
1. Requires a court to order a person convicted of a misdemeanor offense and sentenced to a term of incarceration to reimburse the city, town or county responsible for the costs of the person’s incarceration.
2. Stipulates that the court may determine the amount of incarceration costs to be paid by a person based on two factors:
a) the actual per diem, per person incarceration costs incurred by the city or county.
b) the person’s ability to pay part or all of the incarceration costs.
3. Mandates that if a defendant is sentenced to pay incarceration costs, payment and enforcement of restitution take priority over payment to the State.
4. Repeals current statutes relating to reimbursement of incarceration costs by persons charged with and incarcerated for reckless driving, aggressive driving or DUI.
5. Stipulates that the duty of a sheriff to receive and provide for prisoners at the expense of counties or county jail districts shall not prohibit a city or town from recovering incarceration costs.
6. Contains a technical change.
7. Provides for a general effective date.
· Contains a technical change.
JUD 2/5/02 DP 6-1-2-1-0 JUD 4/9/02 DP 5-1-2-0
CM 3/19/02 DP 9-0-0-1-0 GOV 4/15/02 DPA 4-1-1-0
3rd Read 4/2/02 53-2-5-0
Prepared by Senate Staff
April 18, 2002