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S1070.........................................by LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION
PUBLIC DEBTS - COLLECTION AGENCIES - Adds to existing law to provide that
representatives of counties may file civil actions for reimbursement for
certain county jail expenses; to revise the filing time limitation; and to
provide that public agencies may retain collection agencies to collect public
debts.
02/06 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/07 Rpt prt - to Loc Gov
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session - 2003
IN THE SENATE
SENATE BILL NO. 1070
BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO COLLECTION OF PUBLIC DEBTS; AMENDING SECTION 20-607, IDAHO CODE,
3 TO PROVIDE THAT REPRESENTATIVES OF COUNTIES MAY FILE CIVIL ACTIONS AND TO
4 REVISE A TIME LIMITATION; AMENDING CHAPTER 23, TITLE 67, IDAHO CODE, BY
5 THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 67-2358, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT PUBLIC
6 AGENCIES MAY RETAIN COLLECTION AGENCIES TO COLLECT PUBLIC DEBTS, TO PRO-
7 VIDE FOR COLLECTION FEES, TO REQUIRE NOTICE TO DEBTORS, TO LIMIT REMEDIES
8 AND POWERS OF COLLECTION AGENCIES AND TO CLARIFY THE TERM "DEBT"; AND
9 DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
11 SECTION 1. That Section 20-607, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
12 amended to read as follows:
13 20-607. PRISONER REIMBURSEMENT TO THE COUNTY. (1) The county sheriff
14 shall seek reimbursement for any expenses incurred by the county in relation
15 to the charge or charges for which a person was sentenced to a county jail as
16 follows:
17 (a) From each person who is or was a prisoner, not more than twenty-five
18 dollars ($25.00) per day for the expenses of maintaining that prisoner up
19 to a maximum of five hundred dollars ($500), whichever is less, for the
20 entire period of time the person was confined in the county jail, includ-
21 ing any period of pretrial detention;
22 (b) Any other expenses incurred by the county in order to collect pay-
23 ments under this section;
24 (c) In pursuing reimbursement under this section the county may investi-
25 gate the financial status of the person.
26 (d) The county where the person was sentenced shall charge the person a
27 daily maintenance cost according to paragraph (a) of this subsection and
28 shall seek reimbursement once the debt has been incurred.
29 (2) Before seeking any reimbursement under this section, the sheriff
30 shall develop a form to be used for determining the financial status of pris-
31 oners. The form shall provide for obtaining the age and marital status of the
32 prisoner, the number and ages of children of the prisoner, the number and ages
33 of other dependents, type and value of real estate, type and value of real and
34 personal property, type and value of investments, cash, bank accounts, pen-
35 sions, annuities, salary, wages and any other personal property of significant
36 cash value. The county shall use the form when investigating the financial
37 status of a prisoner and when seeking reimbursement.
38 (3) (a) A prisoner in a county jail shall provide accurate information
39 and cooperate with the county sheriff for purposes of satisfying subsec-
40 tion (2) of this section.
41 (b) A prisoner who willfully refuses to provide accurate information or
42 cooperate as provided in paragraph (a) of this subsection shall not
43 receive a reduction in his or her term under section 20-621, Idaho Code.
2
1 (4) At the request of the board of county commissioners, the sheriff of
2 the county shall forward to the board a list containing the name of each sen-
3 tenced prisoner, term of sentence and date of admission.
4 (5) (a) Within six one (61) months year of the release of a person as a
5 sentenced prisoner from any county jail, an attorney a representative for
6 that county may file a civil action to seek reimbursement from that per-
7 son for the cost of incarceration. A civil action may be filed only after
8 determining from the financial status form, as required in subsection (2)
9 of this section, that sufficient assets are available to justify further
10 recovery efforts and that further action to collect the daily expense for
11 maintaining the sentenced person by the county will not cause the sen-
12 tenced person or his dependents to qualify for public assistance.
13 (b) A civil action brought under this section shall be instituted in the
14 name of the county in which the jail is located and shall state the dates
15 and places of sentence, the length of time set forth in the sentence, the
16 length of time actually served, and the amount or amounts due to the
17 county pursuant to this section.
18 (c) Before entering any order on behalf of the county against the defend-
19 ant, the court shall take into consideration any legal obligation of the
20 defendant to support a spouse, minor children, other dependents or provide
21 victim restitution and any moral obligation to support dependents to whom
22 the defendant is providing or has in fact provided support.
23 (6) The reimbursements secured under this section shall be credited to
24 the justice fund or current expense fund of the county to be available for
25 jail maintenance and operation purposes.
26 SECTION 2. That Chapter 23, Title 67, Idaho Code, be, and the same is
27 hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des-
28 ignated as Section 67-2358, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:
29 67-2358. COLLECTION OF PUBLIC DEBTS -- FEES.
30 (1) (a) Public agencies, as defined in section 67-2327, Idaho Code, may
31 retain by written contract a collection agency that has a permit pursuant
32 to chapter 22, title 26, Idaho Code, for the purpose of collecting public
33 debts owed by any person, including any restitution that is being col-
34 lected on behalf of a crime victim.
35 (b) Any public agency using a collection agency as provided in this sec-
36 tion may add a reasonable fee, payable by the debtor, to the outstanding
37 debt for the collection agency fee incurred or to be incurred. The amount
38 to be paid for collection services shall be left to the agreement of the
39 public agency and its collection agency or agencies, but a contingent fee
40 of up to fifty percent (50%) of the first one hundred thousand dollars
41 ($100,000) of the unpaid debt per account and up to thirty-five percent
42 (35%) of the unpaid debt over one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per
43 account is reasonable. Any fee agreement entered into by a public agency
44 is presumptively reasonable.
45 (2) No debt may be assigned to a collection agency unless:
46 (a) There has been an attempt to advise the debtor:
47 (i) Of the existence of the debt; and
48 (ii) That the debt may be assigned to a collection agency for col-
49 lection if the debt is not paid; and
50 (b) At least thirty (30) days have elapsed from the time notice was
51 attempted.
52 (3) Collection agencies acting pursuant to this section shall have only
53 those remedies and powers which are available to them under chapter 22, title
54 26, Idaho Code.
3
1 (4) For purposes of this section, the term "debt" shall include all
2 debts, including the fee required under subsection (1)(b) of this section,
3 except as otherwise provided by law.
4 SECTION 3. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby
5 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after its
6 passage and approval.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 12592C1
This bill amends the prisoner reimbursement statute to provide
that a representative of the county can initiate civil action and
extends the collection window from six months to one year. It
adds a new code section allowing public debt collection fees to
be in addition to the amount owing and sets provisions for
charging fees for collection. This legislation would allow the
state and local government entities to collect debt that may not
be currently collectable. Such debts may include ambulance
service fees, civil fines, solid waste services, prisoner
reimbursement where the inmate is not indigent, and other fees
charged by such entities.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is approximately eight to ten million dollars that may be
collectable by cities and counties.
Contact
Name: Senator John Goedde
Phone: 345-9129
Dan Chadwick, Tony Poinelli, Maggie Mahoney
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1070