Relating to the disposition of collected criminal case fines and establishing a victim restitution fund

Description

House File 1007 establishes a Victim Restitution Fund. Moneys deposited in the Fund will be administered by the Office of the Attorney General and used for the purposes of Iowa Code sections 910.1(6) (pecuniary damages) and 910.3B (restitution for the death of a victim). Under the Bill, moneys in the Fund that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the close of a fiscal year do not revert but will remain available for expenditure for the purposes designated. The Bill modifies the distribution of the fine amount under Iowa Code section 602.8106(4)(b) for a criminal violation that occurred within the boundaries of a county as displayed in Figure 1. Figure 1 — Distribution of Criminal Fines

Background

Current law provides that the clerk of the district court shall distribute the fine amount for a criminal violation that occurred within the boundaries of a county as 91.0% to the State Court Administrator and 9.0% to the county treasurer for deposit in the county general fund in the county where the violation occurred. Figure 2 shows the distribution of criminal fine revenue under Iowa Code section 602.8106(4)(b) for FY 2023 and FY 2024.

Figure 2 — Current Criminal Fine Distribution

Assumptions

• Fine revenue collected for FY 2024 is used as a basis to estimate the fiscal impact.
• The Judicial Branch anticipates approximately 200 hours of personnel time totaling $9,300 for programming changes and updating written documentation.
• The Attorney General’s office would hire 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) position for a paralegal at approximately $65,000 to administer the Fund.Current Distribution Distribution under HF 1007 State 91.0% 85.0%

Counties 9.0% 8.0% Victim Restitution Fund - 7.0%FY 2023 FY 2024 91.0% of criminal fines to the State 31,665,771$ 31,531,510$ 1.3% of 91.0% to Emergency Medical Services Fund 411,655 409,910 98.7% of 91.0% to State General Fund 31,254,116 31,121,600 9.0% of criminal fines to counties 3,131,780 3,118,501 Total 34,797,551$ 34,650,011$ Figure 3 shows the distribution under the Bill for FY 2023 and FY 2024 based on the amounts remitted in those fiscal years.

Figure 3 — Criminal Fine Distribution under HF 1007

Fiscal Impact

House File 1007 is estimated to have the following impact on counties and State funds beginning in FY 2026:

• General Fund revenue is estimated to decrease by approximately $2.1 million.
• Emergency Medical Services Fund revenue is estimated to decrease by approximately $27,000.
• The total revenue to counties is estimated to decrease by approximately $347,000.
• The estimated revenue to the Victim Restitution Fund is approximately $2.4 million. The Judicial Branch will use existing resources for the computer programming changes under the Bill.

The estimated cost to the Attorney General’s office is approximately $65,000 and 1.0 FTE position.

Sources

• Department of Justice
• Judicial Branch