Types of LFOs and where to find official
information about
LFOs
information about
LFOs
An LFO that is intended to pay the crime victim back.
What is restitution?
Bonus: The law treats Restitution as more important, and this is why interest still accrues on Restitution -- even after the 2018, 2022 and 2023 reforms. Restitution owed to an individual cannot be waived.
The costs, fines and fees imposed by a court at a criminal sentencing hearing.
Bonus if you can name a few!
What are "legal financial obligations" (LFOs)?
Victim restitution, costs, fines, fees, VPA (Victim Penalty Assessment), DNA fee
What a person needs to do in order to have interest stop accruing on non-restitution LFOs after June 7, 2018
What is nothing / no action required?
TIP: The non-restitution LFO interest that has already accrued prior to that date "shall" be waived by a court, upon the proper motion of a formerly incarcerated individual, according to RCW 10.82.090.
Using a peer-to-peer model of sharing of information about the law and procedures for accessing legal remedies, including a technology based tool for generating court forms, Living with Conviction has helped formerly incarcerated individuals waive over $10 million (and counting) in court-ordered LFOs pursuant to recent reforms.
True! Living with Conviction uses a legal empowerment model to share legal information and procedures toward helping formerly incarcerated individuals access post-conviction rights in Washington State.
Legal Empowerment of the Poor and Marginalized is used ubiquitously in the global south, but is still new to the U.S. To our knowledge, LwC is the only org in the U.S. using legal empowerment in the post-conviction context.
The document signed by a judge at a sentencing hearing, which includes a section about the exact LFOs being ordered.
What is the J&S or Judgement and Sentence?
Tip: J&S's are available at the clerk's office for the county of the conviction, (usually for a small printing fee). Sometimes restitution is ordered at a later hearing, and in those cases, the relevant information can be found on the Restitution Order.
The official document through which a formerly incarcerated individual can ask the court to waive or reduce or "remit" their LFOs.
What is a motion?
(Next week, we'll see that the mandatory forms that accompany GR 39 use the word "petition" instead of "motion" - but they are the same thing. We've seen some clerks give people grief about this, assuming they don't know what they are doing.)
This specific type of restitution may be waived by a court when the person lacks the current and likely future ability to pay.
What is restitution owed to insurance agency or state agency?
Bonus: BUT there is one exception --> not if the state agency is Labor and Industries (L&I).
Every county in Washington State has the same procedures for filing and serving motions to waive or reduce or remit LFOs.
What is False?
If only! Each county is different. And these instructions change over time. We'll talk about this more next week, when we cover Washington's non-unified court system and GR 39 on LFO Remission.
An order that documents the results of a hearing sometimes set after sentencing to determine what amount is owed to victims of a crime to make them whole.
What is the Restitution Order?
Practice Note: Defense attorneys often waive their clients' presence at these hearings to avoid having them brought to court from DOC (Dept of Corrections), which can be disruptive for them. But the upshot is that individuals may not be fully informed about the amounts that they owe.
(In general): The legal document that creates a record in a court proceeding of what the judge ordered
(Specifically): The legal document that the judge signs to waive interest on non-restitution LFOs
What is an order?
Practice TIP: when asking for relief from a court, individuals should always submit a proposed order to go along with their motion, filled out as they would like the court to rule. The judge can always strike stuff out (and they do!).
Important date that triggers the right to ask a court to waive restitution interest that accrued during the period of confinement.
hint: this date will vary from person to person
What is release from total (24-hour) confinement?
Tip: Work-release is considered partial confinement, so a person in work release is eligible to ask for the waiver of restitution interest that accrued while incarcerated.
The specific dates of confinement are needed for filling out the forms. A person can call the Department of Corrections to get this information.
*It's a discretionary right -- so the court may or may not grant the request.
ALSO important to know (and to tell individuals contemplating this ask) is that this particular request triggers a requirement for the prosecutor to notify the victim for their input.
RCW 10.82.090(c)
A person can be arrested for not paying their LFOs.
Unfortunately, true -- but only if you fail to appear at a sentencing violation hearing, and a bench warrant was issued.
Bonus: Courts can only order jail time for non-payment at one of these hearings if they find that the non-payment of LFOs was 'willfull' -- as in, the person had the money to pay but was willfully choosing not to pay.
Up until July 1, 2023, this LFO was mandatory for all courts to order in all criminal sentencing hearings ($500 per felony). This LFO can no longer be imposed (effective 7/1/2023) upon indigent defendants.
And defendants who meet the definition of indigency can ask the courts to waive it from their debt "upon motion."
What is the Victim Penalty Assessment?
See RCW 7.68.035(4) -- "Upon motion," the court "shall waive" the VPA if person is indigent.
The legal phrase for whether a court has authority over a case. Once this authority is gone or "expired," a court can no longer collect payments or make decisions about the case.
What is "jurisdiction"?
LwC's JiM web app has a section of questions devoted to figuring out if the court's jurisdiction to collect LFOs has expired. The answer as it will appear on the court form will depend on the type of LFO, the underlying charge, the date of the offense, as well as the time that has elapsed since sentencing and/or release from confinement.
One way (often preferred by prosecutors) that a person can get the interest on their restitution waived.
What is paying off the principal amount of restitution owed?
For crimes committed before July 1, 2000, courts have jurisdiction to collect for 10 years automatically, and another 10 years if they extended their jurisdiction within that initial period.
True!
RCW 9.94A.753 (4); State v. Gossage, 165 Wn.2d. 1 (2008)
Practice Note / Recurring issue: Some counties will admit they don't have jurisdiction to collect, but refuse to bring the balance owed to "zero", leaving the person in a legal purgatory. Court can't collect, but the person still shows as having debt on the books.
What a county clerk is supposed to do with payments made by an individual for their LFOs -- both the order in which to apply them, and to which particular LFOs.
What is - 1st) apply payment to restitution for victims that have not been fully compensated from other sources; 2nd) for restitution to insurance wrt loss they provided to victim; 3rd) to crime victim assessments not already waived; 4th) to costs, fines, and other assessments?
RCW 9.94A.760 (2)
A legal word for someone lacking financial means; and upon such a finding by a court, opens avenues to LFO relief under Washington State law.
What is 'indigency'?
Indigency is referenced in several relevant RCWs, and is specifically defined under Washington Law in RCW 10.01.160.
How the RCWs define indigency.
Indigency is defined as meeting criteria of 1) receiving public assistance; 2) involuntarily committed; 3)receiving income less than 125% of the federal poverty level.
RCWs 10.01.160 (includes homelessness) and 10.101.010
The RCWs surrounding LFOs make perfect sense and are consistent with each other across the board.
Lol, false! If you are confused, you are not alone. The pattern forms had to be changed more than once in order to properly account for all the changes in LFO law.
This also calls for showing grace to system actors who may not have ill intent when they get it wrong, but simply don't understand the law.