State & Federal Restitution

If you are incarcerated in a state prison, you should be able to get a copy of your restitution balance sheet from your facility (either a CDCR facility or county jail). Ask your Correctional Counselor if you have any questions about your restitution.^[2255]

If you have just been released from state prison, your facility (or the agency it has chosen) will either continue to collect your debt itself or refer your debt out to a private collection agency or the Franchise Tax Board.^[2256] You should get a demand notice from whichever agency will continue collecting your restitution debt within 90 days of your release, although there is no set time for this.^[2257]

If you are on state parole, probation, or community supervision, talk to your parole agent or probation officer.^[2258] They can give you a copy of your balance sheet, which has information about how much you currently owe.

At any time, you can also find out how much you owe by contacting an Adult Restitution Agent at the CDCR Office of Victim & Survivor Rights & Services Restitution Unit at (877) 256-6877 (toll free). They will be able to tell you your restitution balance and can give you information about what to do while you wait for the collection agency to contact you.^[2259]

If you were released from federal prison or are on federal supervision, you can find out how much federal restitution you owe by calling the District Court’s Finance Unit at (415) 552-4621.^[2260] The Finance Unit can also tell you the status of your payments and help you create a payment plan. Please note that if you previously failed to make payments on time, you may owe additional money on top of your restitution due to interest or penalty fees. To find out whether this is the case, call the District Court’s Litigation Unit at (415) 436-6970.

1. ²²⁵⁵

   Cal. Penal Code § 2085.5; Cal. Dep’t Corr. & Rehab., An Adult Offender’s Guide to Restitution (Apr. 2007), http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/victim_services/docs/Adult_Offender_Guide.pdf. ↑

2. ²²⁵⁶

   Cal. Penal Code § 2085.5; see also Office of Victim & Survivor Rights & Svcs., Cal. Dep’t of Corr. & Rehab., Offender Restitution Information FAQ, http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/victim_services/restitution_offender.html. ↑

3. ²²⁵⁷

   Telephone Interview with Brandy (last name unknown), Agent, Office of Victim & Survivor Rights & Svcs., Cal. Dep’t of Corr. & Rehab. (Feb. 10, 2015); see also Cal. Rev. & Tax Code § 19280. ↑

4. ²²⁵⁸

   Office of Victim & Survivor Rights & Svcs., Cal. Dep’t of Corr. & Rehab., Parolee Restitution Payment Instructions, http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/victim_services/parolee_payment_instructions.html; Cal. Victim Comp. & Gov’t Claims Board, Your Restitution Responsibilities: A Brochure for Adult & Juvenile Offenders at 5 (rev’d May 2009), http://www.victimsofcrime.org/docs/restitution-toolkit/c5_ca-restitution-brochure-for-offenders.pdf?sfvrsn=2. ↑

5. ²²⁵⁹

   Telephone Interview with Brandy (last name unknown), Agent, Off. of Victim & Survivor Rights & Svcs., Cal. Dep’t of Corr. & Rehab. (Feb. 10, 2015); see also Office of Victim & Survivor Rights & Svcs., Cal. Dep’t of Corr. & Rehab., Offender Restitution Information FAQ, http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/victim_services/restitution_ftb.html. ↑

6. ²²⁶⁰

   United States District Court, Northern District of California, Finance Unit Frequently Asked Questions, available at http://www.cand.uscourts.gov/financefaq#crimbalance. ↑