FIRST REGULAR SESSION
97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE COX.
0284L.01I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 559.100, 559.105, 570.120, 600.042, 600.044, and 600.090, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof eight new sections relating to the defense of indigent defendants and restitution of crime victims, with penalty provisions, an effective date for certain sections and an emergency clause for a certain section.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 559.100, 559.105, 570.120, 600.042, 600.044, and 600.090, RSMo, are repealed and eight new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 559.100, 559.105, 570.120, 600.042, 600.044, 600.052, 600.053, and 600.090, to read as follows:
559.100. 1. The circuit courts of this state shall have power, herein provided, to place on probation or to parole persons convicted of any offense over which they have jurisdiction, except as otherwise provided in sections 195.275 to 195.296, section 558.018, section 559.115, section 565.020, sections 566.030, 566.060, 566.067, 566.151, and 566.213, section 571.015, and subsection 3 of section 589.425.
2. The circuit court shall have the power to revoke the probation or parole previously granted and commit the person to the department of corrections. The circuit court shall determine any conditions of probation or parole for the defendant that it deems necessary to ensure the successful completion of the probation or parole term, including the extension of any term of supervision for any person while on probation or parole. The circuit court may require that the defendant pay restitution for his crime. The probation or parole may be revoked for failure to pay restitution or for failure to conform his behavior to the conditions imposed by the circuit court. The circuit court may, in its discretion, credit any period of probation or parole as time served on a sentence.
3. Restitution, whether court ordered as provided in subsection 2 of this section or agreed to by the parties, or as enforced under section 558.011, shall be paid through the office of the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney from contracting with or utilizing another entity for the collection of restitution and costs under this section. When ordered by the court, interest shall be allowed under subsection 1 of section 408.040. In addition to all other costs and fees allowed by law, each prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney who takes any action to collect restitution shall collect from the person paying restitution an administrative handling cost. The cost shall be twenty-five dollars for restitution less than one hundred dollars and fifty dollars for restitution of one hundred dollars but less than two hundred fifty dollars. For restitution of two hundred fifty dollars or more an additional fee of ten percent of the total restitution shall be assessed, with a maximum fee for administrative handling costs not to exceed seventy-five dollars total. In addition to the administrative handling costs, an installment cost shall be assessed in the amount of two dollars per installment, excepting the first installment, until such total amount of restitution is paid in full. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 50.525 to 50.745, the costs provided for in this subsection shall be deposited by the county treasurer into a separate interest-bearing fund to be expended by the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney. This fund shall be known as the "Administrative Handling Cost Fund", and it shall be the fund for deposits under this section and under section 570.120. The funds shall be expended, upon warrants issued by the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney directing the treasurer to issue checks thereon, only for purposes related to that authorized by subsection 4 of this section. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, in addition to the administrative handling cost, the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney shall collect an additional cost of five dollars per each crime victim to whom restitution is paid for deposit to the Missouri office of prosecution services fund established in subsection 2 of section 56.765. All moneys collected under this section which are payable to the Missouri office of prosecution services fund shall be transmitted at least monthly by the county treasurer to the director of revenue who shall deposit the amount collected to the credit of the Missouri office of prosecution services fund under the procedure established under subsection 2 of section 56.765. As used in this subsection, "crime victim" means any natural person or their survivors or legal guardians, the estate of a deceased person, a for-profit corporation or business entity, a nonprofit corporation or entity, a charitable entity, or any governmental body or a political subdivision thereof.
4. The moneys deposited in the fund may be used by the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney for office supplies, postage, books, training, office equipment, capital outlay, expenses of trial and witness preparation, additional employees for the staff of the prosecuting or circuit attorney, employees' salaries, and for other lawful expenses incurred by the prosecuting or circuit attorney in the operation of that office.
5. This fund may be audited by the state auditor's office or the appropriate auditing agency.
6. If the moneys collected and deposited into this fund are not totally expended annually, then the unexpended balance shall remain in the fund and the balance shall be kept in the fund to accumulate from year to year.
7. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a crime victim from pursuing other lawful remedies against a defendant for restitution.
559.105. 1. Any person who has been found guilty [of] or has pled guilty to [a violation of subdivision (2) of subsection 1 of section 569.080 or paragraph (a) of subdivision (3) of subsection 3 of section 570.030] an offense may be ordered by the court to make restitution to the victim for the victim's losses due to such offense. Restitution pursuant to this section shall include, but not be limited to[, the following:
(1)] a victim's reasonable expenses to participate in the prosecution of the crime[;
(2) A victim's payment for any repairs or replacement of the motor vehicle, watercraft, or aircraft; and
(3) A victim's costs associated with towing or storage fees for the motor vehicle caused by the acts of the defendant].
2. No person ordered by the court to pay restitution pursuant to this section shall be released from probation until such restitution is complete. If full restitution is not made within the original term of probation, the court shall order the maximum term of probation allowed for such offense.
3. Any person eligible to be released on parole [for a violation of subdivision (2) of subsection 1 of section 569.080 or paragraph (a) of subdivision (3) of subsection 3 of section 570.030 may] shall be required, as a condition of parole, to make restitution pursuant to this section. The board of probation and parole shall not release any person from any term of parole for such offense until the person has completed such restitution, or until the maximum term of parole for such offense has been served.
4. The court may set an amount of restitution to be paid by the defendant. Said amount may be taken from the inmate's account at the department of corrections while the defendant is incarcerated. Upon conditional release or parole, if any amount of such court-ordered restitution is unpaid, the payment of the unpaid balance may be collected as a condition of conditional release or parole by the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney under section 559.100. The prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney may refer any failure to make such restitution as a condition of conditional release or parole to the parole board for enforcement.
570.120. 1. A person commits the crime of passing a bad check when:
(1) With purpose to defraud, the person makes, issues or passes a check or other similar sight order or any other form of presentment involving the transmission of account information for the payment of money, knowing that it will not be paid by the drawee, or that there is no such drawee; or
(2) The person makes, issues, or passes a check or other similar sight order or any other form of presentment involving the transmission of account information for the payment of money, knowing that there are insufficient funds in or on deposit with that account for the payment of such check, sight order, or other form of presentment involving the transmission of account information in full and all other checks, sight orders, or other forms of presentment involving the transmission of account information upon such funds then outstanding, or that there is no such account or no drawee and fails to pay the check or sight order or other form of presentment involving the transmission of account information within ten days after receiving actual notice in writing that it has not been paid because of insufficient funds or credit with the drawee or because there is no such drawee.
2. As used in subdivision (2) of subsection 1 of this section, "actual notice in writing" means notice of the nonpayment which is actually received by the defendant. Such notice may include the service of summons or warrant upon the defendant for the initiation of the prosecution of the check or checks which are the subject matter of the prosecution if the summons or warrant contains information of the ten-day period during which the instrument may be paid and that payment of the instrument within such ten-day period will result in dismissal of the charges. The requirement of notice shall also be satisfied for written communications which are tendered to the defendant and which the defendant refuses to accept.
3. The face amounts of any bad checks passed pursuant to one course of conduct within any ten-day period may be aggregated in determining the grade of the offense.
4. Passing bad checks is a class A misdemeanor, unless:
(1) The face amount of the check or sight order or the aggregated amounts is five hundred dollars or more; or
(2) The issuer had no account with the drawee or if there was no such drawee at the time the check or order was issued, in which cases passing bad checks is a class C felony.
5. (1) In addition to all other costs and fees allowed by law, each prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney who takes any action pursuant to the provisions of this section shall collect from the issuer in such action an administrative handling cost. The cost shall be twenty-five dollars for checks of less than one hundred dollars, and fifty dollars for checks of one hundred dollars but less than two hundred fifty dollars. For checks of two hundred fifty dollars or more an additional fee of ten percent of the face amount shall be assessed, with a maximum fee for administrative handling costs not to exceed seventy-five dollars total. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 50.525 to 50.745, the costs provided for in this subsection shall be deposited by the county treasurer into a separate interest-bearing fund to be expended by the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney. This fund shall be known as the "Administrative Handling Cost Fund", and it shall be the fund for deposits under this section and under section 559.100. The funds shall be expended, upon warrants issued by the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney directing the treasurer to issue checks thereon, only for purposes related to that previously authorized in this section. Any revenues that are not required for the purposes of this section may be placed in the general revenue fund of the county or city not within a county. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, in addition to the administrative handling cost, the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney shall collect an additional cost of five dollars per check for deposit to the Missouri office of prosecution services fund established in subsection 2 of section 56.765. All moneys collected pursuant to this section which are payable to the Missouri office of prosecution services fund shall be transmitted at least monthly by the county treasurer to the director of revenue who shall deposit the amount collected pursuant to the credit of the Missouri office of prosecution services fund under the procedure established pursuant to subsection 2 of section 56.765.
(2) The moneys deposited in the fund may be used by the prosecuting or circuit attorney for office supplies, postage, books, training, office equipment, capital outlay, expenses of trial and witness preparation, additional employees for the staff of the prosecuting or circuit attorney, employees' salaries, and for other lawful expenses incurred by the circuit or prosecuting attorney in operation of that office.
(3) This fund may be audited by the state auditor's office or the appropriate auditing agency.
(4) If the moneys collected and deposited into this fund are not totally expended annually, then the unexpended balance shall remain in said fund and the balance shall be kept in said fund to accumulate from year to year.
6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary:
(1) In addition to the administrative handling costs provided for in subsection 5 of this section, the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney may collect from the issuer, in addition to the face amount of the check, a reasonable service charge, which along with the face amount of the check, shall be turned over to the party to whom the bad check was issued;
(2) If a check that is dishonored or returned unpaid by a financial institution is not referred to the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney for any action pursuant to the provisions of this section, the party to whom the check was issued, or his or her agent or assignee, or a holder, may collect from the issuer, in addition to the face amount of the check, a reasonable service charge, not to exceed twenty-five dollars, plus an amount equal to the actual charge by the depository institution for the return of each unpaid or dishonored instrument.
7. When any financial institution returns a dishonored check to the person who deposited such check, it shall be in substantially the same physical condition as when deposited, or in such condition as to provide the person who deposited the check the information required to identify the person who wrote the check.
600.042. 1. The director shall:
(1) Direct and supervise the work of the deputy directors and other state public defender office personnel appointed pursuant to this chapter; and he and the chief deputy director may participate in the trial and appeal of criminal actions at the request of the defender or upon order of the commission;
(2) Submit to the commission, between August fifteenth and September fifteenth of each year, a report which shall include all pertinent data on the operation of the state public defender system, the costs, projected needs, and recommendations for statutory changes. Prior to October fifteenth of each year, the commission shall submit such report along with such recommendations, comments, conclusions, or other pertinent information it chooses to make to the chief justice, the governor, and the general assembly. Such reports shall be a public record, shall be maintained in the office of the state public defender, and shall be otherwise distributed as the commission shall direct;
(3) With the approval of the commission, establish such divisions, facilities and offices and select such professional, technical and other personnel, including investigators, as he deems reasonably necessary for the efficient operation and discharge of the duties of the state public defender system under this chapter;
(4) Administer and coordinate the operations of defender services and be responsible for the overall supervision of all personnel, offices, divisions and facilities of the state public defender system, except that the director shall have no authority to direct or control the legal defense provided by a defender to any person served by the state public defender system;
(5) Develop programs and administer activities to achieve the purposes of this chapter;
(6) Keep and maintain proper financial records with respect to the providing of all public defender services for use in the calculating of direct and indirect costs of any or all aspects of the operation of the state public defender system;
(7) Supervise the training of all public defenders, assistant public defenders, deputy public defenders and other personnel and establish such training courses as shall be appropriate;
(8) With approval of the commission, promulgate necessary rules, regulations and instructions consistent with this chapter defining the organization of his office and the responsibilities of public defenders, assistant public defenders, deputy public defenders and other personnel;
(9) With the approval of the commission, apply for and accept on behalf of the public defender system any funds which may be offered or which may become available from government grants, private gifts, donations or bequests or from any other source. Such moneys shall be deposited in the state general revenue fund;
(10) [Contract for legal services with private attorneys on a case-by-case basis and with assigned counsel as the commission deems necessary considering the needs of the area, for fees approved and established by the commission;
(11)] In the event that the prosecuting attorney does not collect and enforce liens and other judgments owed to the state for services rendered by the state public defender system as set forth in subsection 3 of section 600.093, then with the approval and on behalf of the commission, contract with private attorneys for the collection and enforcement of liens and other judgments owed to the state for services rendered by the state public defender system;
(11) Contract out for legal services with private attorneys all nonsexual class C and D felonies, all misdemeanor cases, all traffic cases, and all probation violation cases. The office of administration shall handle the bidding process for all such contracts in accordance with the provisions of section 600.052;
(12) Shall establish district offices, the boundaries of which shall coincide with existing judicial circuits. Any district office may contain more than one judicial circuit within its boundaries, but in no event shall any district office boundary include any geographic region of a judicial circuit without including the entire judicial circuit.
2. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated under the authority of this chapter shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of section 536.024.
3. The director and defenders shall, within guidelines as established by the commission and as set forth in subsection 4 of this section, accept requests for legal services from eligible persons entitled to counsel under this chapter or otherwise so entitled under the constitution or laws of the United States or of the state of Missouri and provide such persons with legal services when, in the discretion of the director or the defenders, such provision of legal services is appropriate.
4. Except as provided in subsection 5 of this section, the director and defenders shall provide legal services to an eligible person:
(1) Who is detained or charged with a class A or B felony, including appeals from a conviction in such a case;
(2) [Who is detained or charged with a misdemeanor which will probably result in confinement in the county jail upon conviction, including appeals from a conviction in such a case;
(3) Who is detained or charged with a violation of probation or parole;
(4)] Who is detained or charged with felony sexual offense;
(3) Who has been taken into custody pursuant to section 632.489, including appeals from a determination that the person is a sexually violent predator and petitions for release, notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary;
[(5)] (4) For whom the federal constitution or the state constitution requires the appointment of counsel; and
[(6)] (5) For whom, in a case in which he faces a loss or deprivation of liberty, any law of this state requires the appointment of counsel; however, the director and the defenders shall not be required to provide legal services to persons charged with violations of county or municipal ordinances.
5. The director may:
(1) [Delegate the legal representation of any person to any member of the state bar of Missouri;
(2)] Designate persons as representatives of the director for the purpose of making indigency determinations and assigning counsel;
(2) Contract out for legal services with private attorneys direct appeals of any cases handled by public defenders.
6. The director and defenders shall not provide legal services or contract out for legal services with private attorneys for the following types of cases:
(1) Motions under Rule 24.035 or 29.15 claiming ineffective assistance of counsel; or
(2) Representation of any crime victim or witness.
7. The public defender shall provide legal services in those cases in which a private attorney who has a contract for the provision of legal services under section 600.052 has a conflict of interest.
600.044. Except as provided in subdivision (2) of subsection 5 of section 600.042, a defender who undertakes to represent an eligible person shall continue to do so at every stage of the case or proceeding, including the filing of a motion for new trial and the processing, briefing, and argument of an appeal, until the defender is relieved of his duties by the director or is permitted by a court to withdraw.
600.052. The office of administration shall award contracts under this section through a competitive bidding process. The competitive bidding process shall be designed to award contracts to the lowest and best bidder and shall give priority to bidders who exhibit experience in criminal law, demonstrate the capacity to provide effective representation in all assigned cases, and carry sufficient malpractice insurance. The office of administration shall also administer all contracts made by the director, including contracts for cases which are conflicts of the public defender. The office of administration may promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this subsection.
600.053. 18 C.S.R. 10-4.010 is hereby invalidated and is null and void. The public defender may not refuse to provide representation required under this chapter without prior approval from a court of competent jurisdiction.
600.090. 1. (1) If a person is determined to be eligible for the services provided by the state public defender system and if, at the time such determination is made, he is able to provide a limited cash contribution toward the cost of his representation without imposing a substantial hardship upon himself or his dependents, such contribution shall be required as a condition of his representation by the state public defender system.
(2) If at any time, either during or after the disposition of his case, such defendant becomes financially able to meet all or some part of the cost of services rendered to him, he shall be required to reimburse the commission in such amounts as he can reasonably pay, either by a single payment or by installments of reasonable amounts, in accordance with a schedule of charges for public defender services prepared by the commission.
(3) No difficulty or failure in the making of such payment shall reduce or in any way affect the rendering of public defender services to such persons.
2. (1) The reasonable value of the services rendered to a defendant pursuant to sections 600.011 to 600.048 and 600.086 to 600.096 may in all cases be a lien on any and all property to which the defendant shall have or acquire an interest. The public defender shall effectuate such lien whenever the reasonable value of the services rendered to a defendant appears to exceed one hundred fifty dollars and may effectuate such lien where the reasonable value of those services appears to be less than one hundred fifty dollars.
(2) To effectuate such a lien, the public defender shall, prior to the final disposition of the case or within ten days thereafter, file a notice of lien setting forth the services rendered to the defendant and a claim for the reasonable value of such services with the clerk of the circuit court. The defendant shall be personally served with a copy of such notice of lien. The court shall rule on whether all or any part of the claim shall be allowed. The portion of the claim approved by the court as the value of defender services which has been provided to the defendant shall be a judgment at law. The public defender shall not be required to pay filing or recording fees for or relating to such claim.
(3) Such judgment shall be enforceable in the name of the state on behalf of the commission by the prosecuting attorney of the circuit in which the judgment was entered.
(4) The prosecuting attorney may compromise and make settlement of, or, with the concurrence of the director, forego any claims for services performed for any person pursuant to this chapter whenever the financial circumstances of such person are such that the best interests of the state will be served by such action.
(5) The public defender shall pay the prosecuting or circuit attorney a collection fee of twenty percent of the funds collected by the prosecuting or circuit attorney on behalf of the public defender. This collection fee shall be deposited in the same manner as collection fees are deposited for delinquent taxes under section 136.150 as follows: the collection fee shall be deposited in the county treasury of the circuit or prosecuting attorney who collected such funds, with one-half of such collection fee being designated for the use of the prosecuting or circuit attorney's office and one-half to be expended as the county shall determine.
3. [The commission may contract with] If the prosecuting attorney does not take action to enforce the judgment within ninety days of entry, then the commission may contract with private collection agencies or private attorneys for the collection and enforcement of liens and other judgments owed to the state for services rendered by the state public defender system.
4. The lien created by this section shall be from the time filed in the court by the defender a charge or claim against any assets of the defendant; provided further that the same shall be served upon the person in possession of the assets or shall be recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds in the county in which the person resides or in which the assets are located.
5. Except as provided in subdivision (5) of subsection 2 of this section, funds collected pursuant to this section and section 600.093 shall be credited to the "Legal Defense and Defender Fund" which is hereby created. The moneys credited to the legal defense and defender fund shall be used for the purpose of training public defenders, assistant public defenders, deputy public defenders and other personnel pursuant to subdivision (7) of subsection 1 of section 600.042, and may be used to pay for expert witness fees, the costs of depositions, travel expenses incurred by witnesses in case preparation and trial, expenses incurred for changes of venue and for other lawful expenses as authorized by the public defender commission.
6. The state treasurer shall be the custodian of the legal defense and defender fund, moneys in the legal defense and defender fund shall be deposited the same as are other state funds, and any interest accruing to the legal defense and defender fund shall be added to the legal defense and defender fund. The legal defense and defender fund shall be subject to audit, the same as other state funds and accounts, and shall be protected by the general bond given by the state treasurer.
7. Upon the request of the director of the office of state public defender, the commissioner of administration shall approve disbursements from the legal defense and defender fund. The legal defense and defender fund shall be funded annually by appropriation, but any unexpended balance in the fund at the end of the appropriation period not in excess of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars shall be exempt from the provisions of section 33.080, specifically as they relate to the transfer of fund balances to the general revenue, and shall be the amount of the fund at the beginning of the appropriation period next immediately following.
Section B. Sections 600.042, 600.044, 600.052, and 600.090 of this act shall become effective July 1, 2014.
Section C. Because immediate action is necessary to ensure the quality of representation of indigent criminal defendants the enactment of section 600.053 of this act is deemed necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health, welfare, peace, and safety, and is hereby declared to be an emergency act within the meaning of the constitution, and the enactment of section 600.053 of this act shall be in full force and effect upon its passage and approval.
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