Montana Code 46-18-241. Condition of restitution — interest
46-18-241. (Temporary) Condition of restitution — interest. (1) As provided in 46-18-201, a sentencing court shall, as part of the sentence, require an offender to make full restitution to any victim who has sustained pecuniary loss, including a person suffering an economic loss. Full restitution includes the interest required by subsection (4). The duty to pay full restitution under the sentence remains with the offender or the offender’s estate until full restitution is paid, whether or not the offender is under state supervision. If the offender is under state supervision, payment of restitution is a condition of any probation or parole.
Terms Used In Montana Code 46-18-241
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Court: means a place where justice is judicially administered and includes the judge of the court. See Montana Code 46-1-202
- Judgment: means an adjudication by a court that the defendant is guilty or not guilty, and if the adjudication is that the defendant is guilty, it includes the sentence pronounced by the court. See Montana Code 46-1-202
- Parole: means the release to the community of a prisoner by a decision of the board of pardons and parole prior to the expiration of the prisoner's term subject to conditions imposed by the board of pardons and parole and the supervision of the department of corrections. See Montana Code 46-1-202
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
- Sentence: means the judicial disposition of a criminal proceeding upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or upon a verdict or finding of guilty. See Montana Code 46-1-202
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(2)(a) The offender shall pay the cost of supervising the payment of restitution, as provided in 46-18-245, by paying an amount equal to 10% of the amount of restitution ordered, but not less than $5.
(b)A felony offender shall pay the restitution and cost of supervising the payment of restitution to the department of corrections until the offender has fully paid the restitution and the cost of supervising the payment of restitution. The department shall pay the restitution to the person or entity to whom the court ordered restitution to be paid, except that if a victim has been compensated under Title 53, chapter 9, part 1, the restitution must be paid to the crime victims compensation and assistance program in the department of justice for deposit in the account provided for in 53-9-113. The department may contract with a government agency or private entity for the collection of the payments for restitution and the cost of collecting the payments for restitution during the period following state supervision or state custody of the offender. The department shall adopt rules to implement this subsection (2)(b).
(c)In a misdemeanor case, payment of restitution and of the cost of supervising the payment of restitution must be made to the court until the offender has fully paid the restitution and the cost of supervising the payment of restitution. The court shall disburse the money to the entity employing the person ordered to supervise restitution under 46-18-245, which shall disburse the restitution to the person or entity to whom the court ordered restitution to be paid, except that if a victim has been compensated under Title 53, chapter 9, part 1, the restitution must be paid to the crime victims compensation and assistance program in the department of justice for deposit in the account provided for in 53-9-113.
(3)If at any time the court finds that, because of circumstances beyond the offender’s control, the offender is not able to pay any restitution, the court may order the offender to perform community service during the time that the offender is unable to pay. The offender must be given a credit against restitution due at the rate of the hours of community service times the state minimum wage in effect at the time that the community service is performed.
(4)If an offender is out of compliance with court-mandated payments for 6 months or more, interest must accrue on restitution ordered under this section at a rate of 3%. The interest may not compound. Interest only begins to accrue when the judgment is placed for collection with a private person or entity as provided in 3-10-601, 25-30-102, or 46-17-303. (Terminates June 30, 2027–secs. 1, 2, 3, Ch. 139, L. 2021.)