Manner of Enforcement of Restitution Order Generally; Sanctions for Failure to Comply With Order

1. Law
2. Georgia Code
3. Criminal Procedure
4. Restitution and Distribution of Profits to Victims of Crimes
5. Restitution
6. Manner of Enforcement of Restitution Order Generally; Sanctions for Failure to Comply With Order

1. A restitution order shall be enforceable as is a civil judgment by execution as provided in Code Section 17-10-20.
2. If an offender or other person ordered to pay restitution willfully refuses to comply with a restitution order, the order, in the discretion of the court, may be enforced by attachment for contempt, upon the application of the prosecuting attorney or the victim.
3. Failure to comply with a restitution order may, in the discretion of the ordering authority, be grounds to revoke or cancel the relief at any time the restitution order is in effect. Where the relief is earned time allowances, the Department of Corrections may suspend the offender from earning earned time allowances for a specified period of time.

(Code 1933, § 27-3013, enacted by Ga. L. 1980, p. 1382, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 17; Ga. L. 1985, p. 231, § 1; Ga. L. 2005, p. 88, § 5/HB 172.)

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2005, p. 88, § 1/HB 172, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Crime Victims Restitution Act of 2005.'"

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Order of restitution is debt within meaning of Bankruptcy Code.

- Victim who is the subject of an order of restitution has a cause of action in the victim's own right for enforcement of the order. Therefore, an order of restitution is a debt within the ambit of 11 U.S.C. § 1328. Newton v. Fred Haley Poultry Farm, 15 Bankr. 708 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. 1981).

Before O.C.G.A. § 17-14-13 becomes operative, there must be a restitution order which is a condition of any relief ordered and the relief must have been accepted by the offender or inmate. Conklin v. Zant, 202 Ga. App. 214, 413 S.E.2d 536 (1991).

Cited in Cargill v. Zant, 207 Ga. App. 393, 427 S.E.2d 809 (1993); Patterson v. State, 289 Ga. App. 663, 658 S.E.2d 210 (2008); Patterson v. State, 289 Ga. App. 663, 658 S.E.2d 210 (2008).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Criminal conviction as prerequisite to restitution.

- Valid orders of the court are enforceable under the general contempt authority, but restitution orders may only be entered upon a criminal conviction. 1987 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U87-8.

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