Assembly Bill No. 106–Committee on Judiciary
(On Behalf of Administrative Office of the
Courts)
February 12, 2001
____________
Referred to Concurrent Committees on Judiciary
and Ways and Means
SUMMARY—Makes various changes to provisions
governing collection of delinquent fines, administrative assessments, fees and
restitution. (BDR 14‑524)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
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EXPLANATION
– Matter in bolded italics is new; matter
between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
Green numbers along
left margin indicate location on the printed bill (e.g., 5-15 indicates page 5, line 15).
AN ACT relating to criminal judgments; increasing the amount that may be imposed by a
court for a collection fee; authorizing certain governmental entities to
recover the actual cost of using a collection agency to recover a delinquent
fine, administrative assessment, fee or restitution; making various other
changes concerning the collection of delinquent fines, administrative
assessments, fees and restitution; and providing other matters properly
relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1-1 Section 1. NRS 176.064
is hereby amended to read as follows:
1-2 176.064 1. If a fine, administrative assessment, fee or
restitution is
1-3 imposed upon a defendant
pursuant to this chapter, whether or not the fine,
1-4 administrative assessment,
fee or restitution is in addition to any other
1-5 punishment, and the fine,
administrative assessment, fee or restitution or
1-6 any part of it remains
unpaid after the time established by the court for its
1-7 payment, the defendant is
liable for a collection fee, to be imposed by the
1-8 court at the time it finds
that the fine, administrative assessment, fee or
1-9 restitution is delinquent [, of:
1-10 (a) Not more than $100, if
the amount of the delinquency is less than
1-11 $2,000.
1-12 (b) Not more than $500, if
the amount of the delinquency is $2,000 or
1-13 greater, but is less than $5,000.
1-14 (c) Ten percent of the amount
of the delinquency, if] in an amount not
1-15 to exceed the amount of the delinquency . [is $5,000
or greater.] Each time
1-16 the court finds that the defendant is delinquent in making a
payment for
1-17 a fine, administrative assessment, fee or restitution, the court
may impose
2-1 an additional collection fee in an amount not to exceed 20 percent
of the
2-2 amount of the current delinquency.
2-3 2. A state or local entity
that is responsible for collecting a delinquent
2-4 fine, administrative
assessment, fee or restitution may, in addition to
2-5 attempting to collect the
fine, administrative assessment, fee or restitution
2-6 through any other lawful
means, take any or all of the following actions:
2-7 (a) Report the delinquency to reporting agencies that assemble or
2-8 evaluate information
concerning credit.
2-9 (b) Request that the court take appropriate action pursuant to
subsection 3.
2-10 (c) Contract with a collection agency licensed pursuant to NRS
649.075
2-11 to collect the delinquent
amount , [and]
the collection fee [. The]
imposed
2-12 pursuant to subsection 1, and any fee to which the collection agency
2-13 [must be paid as compensation for its services an amount not greater
than
2-14 the amount of the collection fee imposed pursuant to subsection 1,
in
2-15 accordance with] is entitled to receive pursuant to the
provisions of the
2-16 contract.
2-17 3. The court may, on its
own motion or at the request of a state or local
2-18 entity that is responsible
for collecting the delinquent fine, administrative
2-19 assessment, fee or
restitution, take any or all of the following actions, in the
2-20 following order of priority
if practicable:
2-21 (a) Request that a prosecuting attorney undertake collection of the
2-22 delinquency, including,
without limitation, the [original] delinquent
2-23 amount and [the]
any collection fee, including, without limitation,
2-24 statutory interest, post-judgment interest and court costs, by attachment
2-25 or garnishment of the
defendant’s property, wages or other money
2-26 receivable.
2-27 (b) Order the suspension of the driver’s license of the defendant.
If the
2-28 defendant does not possess a
driver’s license, the court may prohibit the
2-29 defendant from applying for
a driver’s license for a specified period. If the
2-30 defendant is already the
subject of a court order suspending or delaying the
2-31 issuance of his driver’s license, the court may
order the additional
2-32 suspension or delay, as
appropriate, to apply consecutively with the
2-33 previous order. At the time
the court issues an order suspending the
2-34 driver’s license of a
defendant pursuant to this paragraph, the court shall
2-35 require the defendant to
surrender to the court all driver’s licenses then
2-36 held by the defendant. The
court shall, within 5 days after issuing the order,
2-37 forward to the department of
motor vehicles and public safety the licenses,
2-38 together with a copy of the
order. At the time the court issues an order
2-39 pursuant to this paragraph
delaying the ability of a defendant to apply for a
2-40 driver’s license, the court shall,
within 5 days after issuing the order,
2-41 forward to the department of
motor vehicles and public safety a copy of the
2-42 order. The department of
motor vehicles and public safety shall report a
2-43 suspension pursuant to this
paragraph to an insurance company or its agent
2-44 inquiring about the
defendant’s driving record, but such a suspension must
2-45 not be considered for the
purpose of rating or underwriting.
2-46 (c) For a delinquent fine or administrative assessment, order the
2-47 confinement of the person in
the appropriate prison, jail or detention
2-48 facility, as provided in NRS
176.065 and 176.075.
3-1 4. Money collected from a
collection fee imposed pursuant to
3-2 subsection 1 must be
distributed in the following manner:
3-3 (a) [Except as otherwise
provided in paragraph (d), if]
If the money is
3-4 collected by or on behalf of
a municipal court, the money must be
3-5 deposited in [a special fund]
an account in the
appropriate city treasury.
3-6 The [city may]
court shall designate the court
administrator, clerk of the
3-7 court or another person to use the money in the [fund]
account only to
3-8 develop and implement a
program for the collection of fines,
3-9 administrative assessments,
fees and restitution.
3-10 (b) [Except as otherwise
provided in paragraph (d), if]
If the money is
3-11 collected by or on behalf of
a justice’s court or district court, the money
3-12 must be deposited in [a special fund]
an account in the
appropriate county
3-13 treasury. The [county may]
court shall designate the court
administrator,
3-14 clerk of the court or another person to use the money in the [special fund]
3-15 account only to develop and implement a program for the collection of
3-16 fines, administrative assessments,
fees and restitution.
3-17 (c) [Except as otherwise
provided in paragraph (d), if]
If the money is
3-18 collected by a state entity,
the money must be deposited in an account,
3-19 which is hereby created in
the state treasury. The court administrator may
3-20 use the money in the account
only to develop and implement a program for
3-21 the collection of fines,
administrative assessments, fees and restitution in
3-22 this state.
3-23 [(d) If the money is
collected by a collection agency, after the collection
3-24 agency has been paid its fee pursuant to the terms of the contract,
any
3-25 remaining money must be deposited in the state, city or county
treasury,
3-26 whichever is appropriate, to be used only for the purposes set forth
in
3-27 paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of this subsection.]
3-28 Sec. 2. This act becomes effective on July 1, 2001.
3-29 H