CIP Audit Department. - Article Greg Magness, CIA, CGAP Audit Manager CIP Audit Section

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1 Greg Magness, CIA, CGAP Audit Manager CIP Audit Section } Set of Principles and Processes designed to assist cities and counties with collecting court costs, fees, and fines when payment is not made immediately. 2 } Code of Criminal Procedure - Article } Subsection (h), each county and municipality shall develop and implement a program 3

2 } (d) The program must consist of: } (1) a component that conforms with a model developed by the office and designed to improve in-house collections through application of best practices; and Staff or staff time dedicated to collection activities. Expectation that all court costs, fees, and fines are generally due at the time of assessment (sentencing or judgment imposed date.) Defendants unable to pay in full on the day of sentencing or pleading are required to complete an application for extension of time to pay. Application information is verified and evaluated to establish an appropriate payment plan for the defendant. 5 Payment terms are usually strict. Alternative enforcement options (e.g., community service) are available for those who do not qualify for a payment plan. Defendants are closely monitored for compliance and action is taken promptly for non-compliance. Ø Telephone contact and letter notification when a payment is missed Ø Possible issuance of a warrant for continued non-compliance; and Ø Possible application of statutorily permitted collection remedies, such as non-renewal of driver s license or vehicle registration 6

3 } (d) The program must consist of: } (2) a component designed to improve collection of balances more than 60 days past due, which may be implemented by entering into a contract with a private attorney or public or private vendor } Mandatory (Texas CCP Article ) County Pop 50K, City Pop 100K 87 of 91 Implemented, 4 waivers } Voluntary 67 Cities and 26 Counties fully or partially implemented May be in partial compliance Should complete first round of Compliance Audits in FY } Requires specific in-house management of current cases as outlined by OCA } Requires strict management of delinquent cases which may include outsourcing } Program required to report results } Four Audits: Pre-rate, Post rate, Compliance, and Data Verification conducted by OCA Audit Section. 9

4 } Not an Audit Informational Use Only } Performed to address the requirement of Article (f) of the Code of Criminal Procedure } Does not measure compliance as required by Article (j) of the Code of Criminal Procedure } Snapshot of first 120-day Collection Rate 10 } Snapshot of first 120-day Cash Collections Broken down in 30-day increments } Total percentage satisfied in first 120-days Cash Collections plus Credits Credits for jail time, indigency, and community service } Percentage of Defendants that pay immediately Must pay at time of plea/judgment Must not have a failure to appear 11 Post-implementation 120-day Collection Rate Review City of Metropolis The Office of Court Administration has completed a Post-Implementation Collection Rate (PICR) Review of the City of Metropolis Municipal Court Collection Program. The objective of this review was to determine the 120-day collection rate of court costs, fees, and fines pursuant to Article (f) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The review covers the City of Metropolis Fiscal Year 2011 (October 1, 2010 September 30, 2011). Please note: the PICR Review is not an audit and does not measure compliance with program requirements. The purpose of the review is to determine your 120-day collection rate since the implementation of your Court Collection Improvement Program and is for informational purposes only. As a result of the review, the following information was determined: 120-day Collection Rate 60.19% Collections - first 30 days 53.20% Collections - days % Collections - days % Collections - days % In addition, through the course of the review, the following information was obtained: Percentage of jail time credit 13.25% Percentage of community service credit 1.96% Percentage of indigency waiver 0.00%* Total percentage of court costs, fees, and fines satisfied 75.41% Percentage of people that paid immediately 40.21% * The City of Metropolis may assign community service or jail time for indigent defendants who cannot pay their court costs, fees, and/or fines. 12

5 Required by: Code of Criminal Procedure Article (j) Test 11 components: 4 Program Operations Components 7 Defendant Communication Components 13 } Program Operations Components 1. Dedicated Program Staff 2. Payment Plan Monitoring 3. Improvement of collections of Seriously Delinquent cases >60 days overdue 4. Reporting of Collection Activity to OCA 14 } Compliance with Program Operations Components If Program is non-compliant with any one of the four components, the Program has failed the audit The auditor will complete the audit to communicate ALL issues of non-compliance Audit Reports do not single out any court or program, but reports the results for the jurisdiction as a whole 15

6 } Defendant Communication Components 5. Application Judicial Plans- Contact Info Only All Other Plans- Contact & Ability Info Completed within 1 month (Exception: Waived for documented effort in certain cases.) 6. Verification of Contact Information Within 5 days (Next Biz Day Rule) 7. Defendant Interviews Within 14 days Documented via date and name of interviewer 16 } Defendant Communication Components 8. Specific Payment Terms Documentation (docket, written, electronic, other.) Payment Guidelines (Strict but considerate of ability to pay) Time Requirements (superseded by judicial discretion) -Municipal & Justice 120 days - Co. & District with CS CS Term less 2 months - Co. & District w/o CS or incarceration 180 day (Exceptions: judicial discretion, noted ability issues, multiple cases.) 9. Telephone Contact for Past-due Payments Within 1 month Documented 17 } Defendant Communication Components 10.Mail Contact for Past-Due Payments Within 1 month Documented 11.Contact if Capias Pro Fine Sought Mail or Phone Contact Within 1 month of last effort Documented 18

7 } Compliance with Defendant Communication Components 80% of eligible cases are in compliance Partial Compliance 50%-79% of eligible cases are in compliance } To be compliant overall No component less than 50% No more than 1 component 50% - 79% All other components must be 80%+ 19 Need a population of ALL Criminal Convictions All Cases Adjudicated if Convictions cannot be identified Point of Contact Person charged with oversight of the Program Limited Assistance Person knowledgeable with the information and systems of the Program Workspace to set-up laptop, with electrical outlet 20 Code of Criminal Procedure Article (i) Each county and municipality shall at least annually submit to the office a written report that includes updated information regarding the program, as determined by the office. The report must be in the form approved by the office. Code of Criminal Procedure - Article (j) The office shall periodically audit counties and municipalities to verify information reported under Subsection (i) and confirm that the county or municipality is conforming with requirements relating to the program. 21

8 } Data Reliability reasonably complete and accurate, meets the intended purposes, and not subject to inappropriate alterations ** Data Reliability does not mean error-free ** 22 Two Required Reports: OCA Monthly Collections Report gathers revenue data related to collections Annual Financial Information Report gathers expenses related to the Collection Improvement Program 23 } When the Monthly Reports are run: Counts are produced that the jurisdiction enter into the Collection Reporting System Detailed Reports may be generated (in the background) to produce those counts We need to be able to get those Detailed Reports in order to audit for data reliability 24

9 } Possible Outcomes Sufficiently Reliable Partially Reliable Not Sufficiently Reliable Undetermined Reliability The Program is working to define these 25 Primary Level 1. Number of cases where court costs, fees, and fines assessed during the month 2. Aging Schedule Both have to be found Sufficiently Reliable to be found in Compliance 26 Secondary Components Monthly Report 3. Dollar Amount Assessed 4. Dollar Amount Collected 5. Jail Time Credit Given 6. Community Service Credit Given Annual Report 7. Salaries 8. Direct Operating Expense 9. Full Time Equivalents 27

10 } 180-day Grace Period Jurisdiction notifies CIP-Audit that they have re-established compliance CIP Audit will schedule follow-up review as soon as possible Two months of audit period must pass Four additional months must pass before Review Will notify Comptroller if found non-compliant during 2 nd Review *CPA only makes a switch once a Calendar Quarter* 28 } Proposed Rule Changes to TAC 175 are currently posted on the Texas Register } Public comments are being accepted through July 31, 2016 } Judicial Council meets August 19, 2016 to discuss the official adoption of the proposed rules } 29 } Paying court costs, fees, and fines cannot place an undue hardship on the defendant or defendant s dependents } No longer required to acquire or verify defendant s employer information } Discretionary Income after-tax income of defendant and spouse less: Required payments which would result in a penalty or adverse impact if payment is not made (including, but not limited to): Required Payments: Loans, Credit Cards, Car and Healt h Insurance, Court mandated payments: child support, victim restitution, drug testing, CSCD and Rehab fees Essential Items Transportation, food, medicine and medical services or supplies Housing, child care, and clothing 30

11 Application } Judge sets Payment Plan or Extension Staff collects Contact Information and statement declaring defendant has the ability to pay. } Staff sets Payment Plan or Defendant does not sign Staff collects Contact Information and Payment Ability Information Income, expenses, account balances in financial institutions, debt balances, and payment amounts, # of dependents, and any other information necessary to calculate the defendant s discretionary income 31 Referral to Court } If staff determine Defendant cannot pay any or all of the court cost, fees, and/or fine without undue hardship to the defendant or the defendant s dependents } Presumed Inability to Pay Defendant attends school Income < 125% of the federal poverty guidelines Defendant or Defendant s dependents receive: Food Stamps, SNAP, WIC Medical assistance (Medicare, Medicaid) Child s health plan program (CHIP) Referrals must be tracked and reported 32 Payment Guidelines } Judge sets Payment Plan or Extension Can set for any payment amount, designated interval, and # of payments } Staff sets Payment Plan or Defendant does not sign Can set for any payment amount, designated interval, and # of payments Limited to 20% of Discretionary Income No exceptions to the 20% of Discretionary Income have been defined 33

12 Telephone and Written Notice for Past-Due Payments } Same schedule as Current Rules } Each Contact must include (and documented) Instructions about what to do if the defendant is unable to make payments Information about the availability of non-monetary compliance options (i.e. Community Service) Instructions on how the defendant may request a hearing for the judge to consider the defendant s ability to pay, and option available for the defendant to satisfy the judgment 34 Final Contact Attempt } Must be a written, mailed notice within 30 days of the Written Notice previously described } Must Include the 3 pieces of Information in Written Notice } Must also include (and documented) Reasonable steps the defendant can take to avoid the case being reported to the court for non-compliance Notify the defendant of their right to avoid jail time for non-payment if the defendant is unable to pay the amount owed without undue hardship to the defendant or the defendant s dependents Program cannot refer case back to the Court for further action until at least 30 days have passed 35 36

13 CIP Audit Department Collections Improvement Program Justice Court Process R T C RTC= Refer r al to Cour t 39

14 40 Gregory Magness, CIA, CGAP Manager, CIP-Audit Section 205 W. 14 th Street, Suite 600 Austin, TX Phone: (512)