State Senator George Runner presented Senate Bill 432 in Senate Public Safety Committee this week, which proposed plans to streamline the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) process for distributing restitution money to victims.

[view:node_ad=5]”SB 432 will assist CDCR in getting victim contact information so the 6.5 million dollars being held in trust by the Victims Compensation & Government Claims Board can be disbursed to the approximately 100,000 unknown victims with direct orders of restitution,” Runner said.

Because crime victims are no longer required to file restitution claims with CDCR, the victim’s contact information is often unavailable.  As a result, CDCR now collects over $3.4 million dollars annually which cannot be disbursed to approximately 40,000 new victims.

“It’s important that we begin locating victims so that restitution funds can be dispersed to those who deserve it,” Runner continued.
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SB 432 received bi-partisan support and successfully passed out of Senate Public Safety Committee by a unanimous 7-0 vote and will next be heard in Senate Appropriations Committee.

In the near future the full senate will vote on this matter.