Title
Title
Judicial Council-Sponsored Legislation | Collections-Related Statutes (Action Required)
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Summary
Summary
The Judicial Branch Budget Committee recommends that the Judicial Council sponsor legislation to amend Penal Code section 1463.007 and Government Code section 68514 to improve compliance with the annual reporting requirements to the Legislature and the Department of Finance regarding court-ordered debt collections. The proposed amendments will help the court and county collections programs comply with existing requirements and report consistent statewide data. The proposed changes will be used in the fiscal year 2026-27 reporting period and reflected in the annual report due by December 31, 2027.
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Recommendation
Recommendation
The Judicial Branch Budget Committee recommends that the Judicial Council:
1. Sponsor legislation, effective January 1, 2027, to:
a. Amend Penal Code section 1463.007 to clearly identify the collection entities that collections programs may use to collect delinquent debt, including the use of the three entities currently listed as possible collection activities. The amendments also remove one activity that is no longer authorized and add the use of administrative offsets to collect debt as a potential activity. As a result, the number of potential collection activities is reduced from 16 to 13, and the total number of required activities is reduced from 10 to 8. The proposed amendments also update the terminology to reflect current collection practices, among other revisions.
b. Amend Government Code section 68514 to change the requirements to report the total amount collected, total number of cases, and total operating costs by collection activity to reporting by collection entity. These entities include the courts, counties, the Franchise Tax Board, private agencies, and other entities. Other changes include minor technical edits to mirror the proposed language in Penal Code section 1463.007.
2. Direct Judici...
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