People released from prisons and jails are often unaware of their total debt, and do not know to whom they should pay it. Victims and families are also often unaware of what portion of restitution or child support they can realistically expect to be paid and when to expect these payments. This situation often generates frustration among victims and family members, as well as among the people who are indebted, who do not know when, if ever, they will satisfy their financial obligations in full.

Once the judge has established the amount of the total sanction, and divided that sum among its various intended recipients, staff working on behalf of various agencies responsible for collections must coordinate their efforts. To simplify and improve the efficiency of collection practices, policymakers should designate one of these agencies—whether the probation department, the office of court administration, the state’s supreme court, or another agency—to coordinate and consolidate the fines, fees, surcharges, and restitution that people released from prisons and jails owe.

Staff of the consolidating agency (such as caseworkers at the prison or jail, court personnel, or community corrections staff) should provide people at appropriate times (including at sentencing, when the community supervision plan is developed, and immediately prior to release), with the following relevant information in writing:

• The total amount of each debt and the extent to which it has been “paid down.”
• A payment schedule that includes the amount and date of the first payment and the amounts and timing of subsequent payments.
• Clear information as to where payments should be submitted.
• A schedule of probation or court reporting hours, with flexible provisions that do not conflict with an individual’s ability to maintain employment.
• Information about how a person can authorize automatic deductions from his or her wages to facilitate the payment of debts.
• An opportunity to pay fines, fees, surcharges, and restitution at the time of sentencing.
• A list of the graduated sanctions, including reincarceration, that staff will use in response to nonpayment and a list of incentives for payment.
• What to do in the event of a change in financial circumstances due to a loss of employment, injury, disability, or other special condition.

The agency responsible for consolidating collections should compile this information in a centralized filing system or database and ensure that this information follows individuals through their sentencing, incarceration, release, and community supervision. The consolidating agency should also provide victims, criminal justice agencies, and people released from prisons and jails who owe fines, fees, surcharges, and restitution with regular updates about the total amount owed and the dates and amounts of expected payments.

¹ Personal communication, Harvey Goldstein, Chief, Intensive Supervision Program, Adult Probation Department, New Jersey, May 11, 2006.

² Anne Crowe, Morna Murray, and Melissa Hook, “A Compendium of Promising Practices for Restitution,” unpublished bulletin of the American Probation and Parole Association and the Victim Assistance Legal Organization, retrieved at www.valor national.org/restitution.html, November 19, 2006.