NCJ Number
155195
Date Published
1994
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This report describes victim restitution procedures and practices in North Carolina and recommends 15 actions for improving the system for ordering, collecting, monitoring, and enforcing victim restitution.
Abstract
The research began in October 1993 and gathered information from criminal justice agencies, data on 561 offenders ordered to pay restitution during the first quarter of 1990, and a review of laws and procedures in North Carolina and other States. Findings revealed that 46 percent of the offenders studied paid no restitution, 41 percent paid all the restitution, and 13 percent paid some of the restitution. Persons on unsupervised probation were most likely and persons with prison sentences least likely to pay all of their restitution. Recommended actions include a standard form or information to address victim impact, legislation to require the district attorney to seek a victim impact statement in all felony and serious misdemeanor cases and present it to the court, and explicit policies and procedures for assessing a defendant's ability to pay restitution. Additional actions recommended include legislation to make the ordering of restitution a priority in all cases where it is appropriate, the use of credit and debit cards to pay restitution, efforts to establish a crime victim advocate program, and written policies to enforce compliance in unsupervised and supervised probation cases. In addition, the Victim Compensation Fund should be maintained at a fully funded level. Additional recommendations and appended supporting legislation, figures, and tables