How does the E2SHB 1783 Legal Financial Obligation (LFO) Bill affect the District and Municipal Courts?

Effective June 7, 2018, Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 1783 eliminates the accrual of interest on criminal non-restitution Legal Financial Obligations (LFOs) and prioritizes how restitution should be paid. It also prohibits certain court costs from being imposed on defendants who are indigent at the time of sentencing.


Table of Contents:

No Interest on Non-restitution Criminal LFOs

Payment Prioritization


Costs on Indigent Defendants


Fail to pay/Contempt of Court


No Interest on Non-restitution Criminal LFOs

This bill amends RCW 3.50.100 and eliminates the accrual of interest on non-restitution criminal LFOs. Therefore, only criminal restitution and infractions can accrue the interest, once assigned to collections. This bill is not retroactive and does not require courts to waive or refund interest accrued up until June 7, 2018.  However, once the defendant is released from total confinement, they can move for a waiver of all non-restitution interest.

Changes to the JIS Collection Agent Detail Report:
Identifying restitution: The report has been updated to separate out any restitution balance on cases at the time of assignment.

Identifying infraction vs criminal: The full formatted case number (Case No, LEA & Case Type) is provided in the report which will easily identify infractions for the collection agencies. Also, the first non-amended law is provided in the report so that Criminal Case Type (CN/CT) cases, where the charges are amended to infractions, will be identifiable as well.

A sample of the report is attached at the bottom of this answer.

Note: There is a BIT Report for CT/CN Cases Amended to IT/IN cases with an optional prompt for assigned to collections. This report can be sent to the collection agency for all criminal case types that are amended to infractions so that interest may accrue.

A new BIT Report Collection - Restitution (CLJ) Report:
Cases already assigned to collections will only be able to accrue interest on criminal restitution LFOs and infractions as of June 7, 2018. However, the JIS Collection Agent Detail Report did not previously identify the restitution amount separate from the other costs, fines and fees. Therefore, a Business Intelligence Tool (BIT) report has been created for courts to identify any outstanding restitution balances and provide the information to the collection agency.

Note: The report is now available for courts to run and can be located in the Public Folders > Court > Accounting > 1783 LFO Bill
Restitution Summary: The first tab of the report identifies the obligor, case number, RTN Cost Fee Code, and restitution amount due as of the date the report is run.

Detail by Name: The second tab includes additional detail sorted by obligor. Details include the obligor name code, collection status date, collection agency name and name code, total assigned amount, all Cost Fee Codes and amounts, amount paid, and total due as of the date the report is run.

Detail by Case: The third tab includes additional detail sorted by case. Details include obligor name code, collection status date, collection agency name and name code, total assigned amount, all Cost Fee Codes and amounts, amount paid, and total due as of the date the report is run.
Note: There is a BIT Report for CT/CN Cases Amended to IT/IN cases with an optional prompt for assigned to collections. This report can be sent to the collection agency for all criminal case types that are amended to infractions so that interest may accrue.


Payment Prioritization

This bill amends RCW 10.01.170 and requires that LFOs be applied in the following order:

  1. Proportionally to restitution to victims that have not been fully compensated from other sources
  2. Proportionally to restitution to insurance or other sources with respect to a loss that has provided compensation to victims
  3. Proportionally to Crime Victims' Assessments
  4. Proportionally to costs, fines, and other assessments required by law
LFO payment sequence:
Courts Profile Maintenance screen (CPFM): The courts should update the payment sequence for restitution to be collected first for cases not on Time Pay.

Time Pay Select (TPSE/TPSC): When courts create payment plans for cases, restitution ARs should always have highest sequence and priority.

Restitution prioritization: JIS does not have functionality to accommodate paying one restitution recipient before another. A manual tracking of the restitution will be required. See attached instructions at the bottom of the answer.

Crime Victim's Assessment: The 1.75% Crime Victim's Assessment is included in most costs, fees, fines and assessments in the District and Municipal Courts (subaccount 20 on the DCXT and BARS codes). These Crime Victim's Assessments are not specifically ordered, and subaccounts cannot be separated out to be prioritized on a case-by-case basis. However, the Crime Victim's Penalty Assessments in Superior Courts (AR Type Code PCV) are specifically imposed and will be prioritized.


Costs Imposed on Indigent Defendants

This bill prohibits for certain costs from being imposed on indigent defendants and allows a defendant to request costs be converted to community restitution, if the jurisdiction operates a community restitution program.


If the defendant is indigent, certain costs may not be imposed. The following Cost Fee Codes under these RCWs have therefore been amended:


  • The following fees shall not be imposed on a defendant at sentencing or on a convicted defendant:
    • Cost Fee Codes under RCW 10.01.160:
      • CCR - Court Cost Recoupment
      • IFA - Investigative Fund Assessment
      • PBR - Prisoner Room and Board (also under RCW 9.94A.760)
      • PDR - Public Defender Fee Recoupment
      • SWF - Court Administrative Warrant Cost
      • WIF - Witness Fee Recoupment

    • Cost Fee Codes without statutory authority:
      • FCN - Criminal Non-Traffic FTA/FTR Fee
      • FCT - Criminal Traffic FTA/FTR Fee
      • FDW - DUI FTA/FTR Fee
      • JYF - Jury Demand Fee - Criminal
      • OCD - Other Costs DUI
      • OC3 - Other Cost - Criminal Traffic
      • OC4 - Other Cost - Criminal Non-Traffic
      • OC5 - Other Costs - Criminal Felony
      • W - Special Service Fees - Criminal

        Note: Other costs defined in this RCW refer to pretrial costs (Pre-disposition therapeutic court fees, deferred prosecution fees, pretrial warrant fees) and are not imposed at sentencing or on a convicted defendant.

  • RCW 3.62.085: Criminal Conviction/Guilty plea fee of $43 - Cost Fee Codes:
    • CFD - Criminal Conviction Filing Fee, DUI Cases
    • CFN - Criminal Conviction Filing Fee, CN Cases
    • CFT - Criminal Conviction Filing Fee, CT Cases

  • RCW 36.18.020: $200 CLJ Criminal Appeal Fee - Cost Fee Code: APC - Appellate Filing Fee: Criminal Cases
  • RCW 9.94A.760: Recoupment of jail costs of up to $100 per day: PBR - Prisoner Room and Board (also under RCW 10.01.160)
  • RCW 43.43.7451 was amended so the $100 DNA fee cannot be imposed if the state has previously collected the DNA - Cost Fee Codes: DN1 - DN9 - DNA Collector Fee 1 - 9


Fail to Pay/Contempt of Court

This bill amends RCW 10.01.180 such that courts may only find a defendant in contempt for willfully failing to pay any fine, penalty, assessment, fee or costs. Persons who are homeless, mentally ill or indigent may not be found to have willfully failed to pay.


RN id: 2493