Collections Up for Crime Victim Fund

Ventura County collected more than $1 million last year from criminals in restitution for crime victims, more than double the amount collected during the previous year, according to the county’s Corrections Services Agency.

In addition, the number of hours served by inmates involved in community work programs increased by 50% over the previous year to 314,249 hours, according to the agency’s annual report.

F. William Forden, director of the county’s Corrections Services Agency, said the restitution collection rate increase can be attributed mostly to an improved automated system to notify probationers about court-mandated payments.

He said the collection rate for victims’ restitution has increased steadily over the past few years, but that last year’s increase was unprecedented.

“We are just getting better at it,” Forden said. “I guess that is the best way to put it.”

In 1989, the Corrections Services Agency collected $528,900 for 1,879 victims, according to a county report. Last year, the agency collected $1,075,652, making payments to 1,958 victims and channeling part of that amount into the State Restitution Fund for victims of violent crimes statewide.

The agency contacts victims of crimes to determine the amount of monetary loss that the victims may have suffered as a result of the crimes. The agency then makes a recommendation to the court for restitution. Once a judge has determined the amount of restitution, it is the agency’s job to collect the money and pay it to the victims.

A judge also determines how much money a person should pay to the state fund.

Forden said his agency has had better success at collecting restitution because of a computer modification.

A computer that the agency has used since 1987 was modified in March, 1989, to more quickly notify people on probation about their obligation to make restitution payments, officials said.

Previously, people on probation would not be notified about their restitution payments until 60 days after a judge has made a ruling, officials said. However, after the computer was reprogrammed, they were notified within 30 days of the judge’s ruling.

Before the change, the agency’s collection rate for restitution had increased at an average of about 5% annually, program administrator Melanie Markley said.

“It makes a big difference,” she said.

Frank Woodsen, deputy director of the agency, said the corrections agency has come a long way from the late 1970s when it collected about $10,000 annually in restitution.

“It’s a tremendous increase,” he said.

The agency also establishes work sites where adults and juveniles are ordered by the court to work for nonprofit organizations as a condition of their sentences or probations. The agency also determines who is eligible for the work programs.

Last year, about 3,000 adults and juveniles were involved in community work service programs in Ventura County.

Forden said the hours that criminals serve in community work programs have increased because his agency has identified more nonprofit organizations, such as cities and school districts, that are willing to put them to work.

The work programs include a program for juveniles who are sentenced to community work, such as cleaning parks and beaches, as an alternative to short-term detention. It also includes juveniles and adults who are ordered to work as part of their sentence.