Sentencing, Corrections, Prisons, and Jails - School of Government ...

236 North Carolina Legislation 1998
another person. Such transferred property, under G.S. 15A-1340.28(c), is not subject to the stay of
execution that applies to the defendant’s property during probation. In other words, the clerk may issue
a writ of execution against the transferred property without awaiting termination or revocation of the
probation.
If the restitution is not a condition of probation (for example, if it accompanies an active sentence),
it is subject to collection as a civil judgment. However, under G.S. 15A-1340.26(b), the date when the
civil debt is collectable presumably would depend on the payment date or payment schedule set by the
sentencing judge.
The provisions regarding civil docketing of restitution orders apparently supersede the procedures
of present G.S. 1-15.1 with regard to the serious offenses covered by Article 45A of G.S. Chapter 15A.
G.S. 1-15.1 concerns a civil action for damages filed by a crime victim against the offender. It tolls the
statute of limitations for the action from the time the restitution order is entered until it is paid in full. It
also provides that at the civil trial, the defendant may contest the amount of the damages, and the
amount of the restitution order is not admissible in evidence. This statute presumably continues to
apply to offenses not covered by the victims’ rights legislation.
The legislation makes other important changes regarding execution of a restitution order as a civil
judgment. It amends G.S. 1-234 to make clear that a restitution judgment docketed under new
G.S. 15A-1340.28 constitutes a lien against the defendant’s property. Furthermore, it alters G.S. 1C-
1601(e) to remove the G.S. Chapter 1C, Article 16 exemptions of property from execution of a criminal
restitution order under G.S. 15A-1340.28. G.S. 1C-1601 exempts from creditor’s claims portions of the
value of certain property—for example, the debtor’s residence, motor vehicle, professional tools, and
personal household furnishings. These kinds of property will now be subject to execution of a
restitution judgment.
Section 19.4(d) of S.L. 1998-212 also amends G.S. 7A-304(d) to change the priorities for
distribution of funds paid to the clerk of court for fines, court costs, and restitution. Restitution
payments to the victim will now have top priority in distribution, ranking ahead of costs to the county
or city and fines to the county school fund.
Crime Victims Compensation
The Crime Victims Compensation Act, G.S. Chapter 15B, enacted in 1983, created a Crime
Victims’ Compensation Commission that, under certain circumstances, may compensate crime victims
for economic loss caused by the crime. S.L. 1998-212 (S 1366), Section 19.4(l), effective December 1,
1998, and applicable to injuries on or after that date, amends G.S. 15B-2 to allow compensation to be
paid for “household support loss.” Compensation for household support loss is only available if (1) the
victim is unemployed; (2) the offender is the victim’s spouse; and (3) the crime qualifies as “criminally
injurious conduct.” [Under G.S. 15B-2(5), criminally injurious conduct is conduct that poses a
substantial threat of personal injury or death and is punishable by fine, imprisonment, or death.] Also,
to obtain this compensation the victim must meet existing requirements of the act (for example, the
victim must report the crime to police within seventy-two hours and must not have been engaged in a
crime at the time of the injury).
Household support loss means “the loss of support that a victim would have received from the
victim’s spouse for the purpose of maintaining a home or residence for the victim and the victim’s
dependents.” The apparent intent of this phrase is to compensate the victim when the victim and his or
her spouse (the offender) separate as a result of the crime and the offender ceases to provide support to
the family. The limit for this type of compensation is $50 per week for each dependent child, up to
$300 per week, and is limited to twenty-six weeks commencing with the date of the injury.
Section 19.4(l) of S.L. 1998-212 also deletes G.S. 15B-11(e), which forbade compensation if the
economic loss was less than $200. It amends G.S. 15B-2(14) to raise from $200 to $300 per week the
amount of compensation that may be paid for work loss, up to twenty-six weeks from the date of the
injury; alters G.S. 15B-11 to extend from one to two years the time allowed to the claimant to apply for
compensation after the criminally injurious conduct; and adds G.S. 15B-11(c1) to allow the
commission to deny a claim if the claimant has been convicted of a felony in Class A through E within
three years of the victim’s injury. Finally, the measure amends G.S. 15B-11(g) to raise to $30,000 the