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Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
1998 SESSION
982800728Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 19.2-349 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 19.2-349. Responsibility for collections; clerks to report unsatisfied fines, etc.; duty of Department of Taxation.
A. The clerk of the circuit court and district court of every county and city shall submit to the judge of his court, the Department of Taxation, the State Compensation Board and the attorney for the Commonwealth of his county or city a monthly report of all fines, costs, forfeitures and penalties which are delinquent more than thirty days, including court-ordered restitution of a sum certain, imposed in his court for a violation of state law or a local ordinance which remain unsatisfied, including those which are delinquent in installment payments. The monthly report shall include the social security number or driver's license number of the defendant, if known, and such other information as the Department of Taxation and the Compensation Board deem appropriate. The Executive Secretary shall make the report required by this subsection on behalf of those clerks who participate in the Supreme Court's automated information system.
B. It shall be the duty of the attorney for the Commonwealth
Department of Taxation to cause proper proceedings to be instituted for
the collection and satisfaction of all fines, costs, forfeitures, penalties and
restitution. The attorney for the Commonwealth shall
determine whether it would be impractical or uneconomical for such service to
be rendered by the office of the attorney for the Commonwealth. If the
defendant does not enter into an installment payment agreement under §
19.2-354, the attorney for the Commonwealth and the clerk , with the
approval of the Department, may agree to a process by which collection
activity may be commenced ten days after judgment.
If the attorney for the Commonwealth does not undertake collection, he
shall The Department may (i) collect the debts, (ii)
contract with (i) private attorneys or private collection
agencies, or (iii) enter into an agreement with a local
governing body, or (iii) use the services of the Department of
Taxation, upon such terms and conditions as may be established by
guidelines promulgated by the Office of the Attorney General, the Executive
Secretary of the Supreme Court with the Department of Taxation and
the Compensation Board. If the attorney for the Commonwealth undertakes
collection, he shall follow the procedures established by the Department of
Taxation and the Compensation Board. Such guidelines shall not supersede
contracts between attorneys for the Commonwealth and private attorneys and
collection agencies when active collection efforts are being undertaken.
The fees of any private attorneys or collection agencies shall be paid on a
contingency fee basis out of the proceeds of the amounts collected. However, in
no event shall such attorney or collection agency receive a fee for amounts
collected by the Department of Taxation under the Setoff Debt
Collection Act (§ 58.1-520 et seq.).
C. The Department of Taxation and the State Compensation Board shall be
responsible for the collection of any judgment which remains unsatisfied or
does not meet the conditions of § 19.2-354. Persons owing such unsatisfied
judgments or failing to comply with installment payment agreements under §
19.2-354 shall be subject to the delinquent tax collection provisions of Title
58.1. The Department of Taxation and the State Compensation Board
shall establish procedures to be followed by clerks of courts, attorneys
for the Commonwealth, other state agencies and any private attorneys or
collection agents and may employ private attorneys or collection agencies, or
engage other state agencies to collect the judgment. The Department of Taxation
and the Commonwealth shall be entitled to deduct a fee for services from
amounts collected for violations of local ordinances.
The Department of Taxation and the State Compensation Board shall annually
report to the Governor and the General Assembly the total of fines, costs,
forfeitures and penalties assessed, collected, and unpaid and those which
remain unsatisfied or do not meet the conditions of § 19.2-354 by each
circuit and district court. The report shall include the procedures established
by the Department of Taxation and the State Compensation Board pursuant to this
section and a plan for increasing the collection of unpaid fines, costs,
forfeitures and penalties. The Auditor of Public Accounts shall annually report
to the Governor, the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court and the General
Assembly as to the adherence of clerks of courts, attorneys for
the Commonwealth and other state agencies to the procedures established
by the Department of Taxation and the State Compensation Board.