Ohio Code 2929.281 – Restitution
(A) In determining the amount of restitution at the time of sentencing under this section, the court shall order full restitution for any expenses related to a victim’s economic loss due to the criminal offense. The amount of restitution shall be reduced by any payments to the victim for economic loss made or due under a policy of insurance or governmental program.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 2929.281
- Economic loss: means any economic detriment suffered by a victim as a direct and proximate result of the commission of an offense and includes any loss of income due to lost time at work because of any injury caused to the victim, any property loss, medical cost, or funeral expense incurred as a result of the commission of the offense, and the cost of any accounting or auditing done to determine the extent of loss if the cost is incurred and payable by the victim. See Ohio Code 2929.01
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Offender: means a person who, in this state, is convicted of or pleads guilty to a felony or a misdemeanor. See Ohio Code 2929.01
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
- Sentence: means the sanction or combination of sanctions imposed by the sentencing court on an offender who is convicted of or pleads guilty to an offense. See Ohio Code 2929.01
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
Economic loss includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) Full or partial payment for the value of stolen or damaged property. The value of stolen or damaged property shall be the replacement cost of the property or the actual cost of repairing the property when repair is possible.
(2) Medical expenses;
(3) Mental health counseling expenses;
(4) Wages or profits lost due to injury or harm to the victim as determined by the court. Lost wages include commission income as well as base wages. Commission income shall be established by evidence of commission income during the twelve-month period prior to the date of the crime for which restitution is being ordered, unless good cause for a shorter time period is shown.
(5) Expenses related to making a vehicle or residence accessible to the victim if the victim is partially permanently disabled or totally permanently disabled as a direct result of the crime.
(B) Upon notification by the court, money owed by the state or by a political subdivision of the state to an offender who is required to make restitution under this section, including any tax refund owed to the offender, shall be assigned to the discharge of the offender’s outstanding restitution obligation, subject to any superseding federal statutes or regulations, including court-ordered support obligations.
(C) If an offender is required to make restitution under this section in the form of monetary payments to more than one victim, the offender shall make the payments to the victims in the following order of priority:
(1) Individuals;
(2) Nonprofit organizations;
(3) Business entities;
(4) Governmental entities.
(D) A court that imposes restitution on an offender as part of the offender’s sentence under this section shall not suspend that part of the offender’s sentence if the victim or the victim’s attorney, if applicable, objects to the suspension of the restitution part of the sentence.
(E) Pursuant to division (D) of section 2929.18 and division (E) of section 2929.28 of the Revised Code, a court order for restitution imposed under this section may be reduced to a certificate of judgment in favor of the victim. If the order is reduced to such a judgment, the person required to pay the restitution under the order is the judgment debtor.
(F) The supreme court shall create a standardized form to be made publicly available that provides guidance for victims and victims’ representatives regarding the compilation of evidence to demonstrate losses for the purpose of this section.
(G) On the request of the victim, if a judge determines that, under the circumstances, it is appropriate and the victim has not been coerced, a victim may accept a settlement that is less than the full restitution order.
Last updated March 9, 2023 at 5:15 PM