Memorandum
Date: January 10, 2023
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Assistant Chief Probation Officer, Wendy Mondfrans
Subject: Approve Agreement between the Lake County Probation Department and the State of California Franchise Tax Board for the purpose of the collection of unpaid court-ordered fines, monetary sanctions, forfeitures and penalties through November 30, 2025 and Authorize the Chief Probation Officer to sign
Executive Summary:
The Lake County Probation Department is charged with collecting court ordered fines, fees and restitution. The collection process is difficult with offenders often simply refusing to pay. When an offender is on probation, failure to pay could result in a violation of probation, however, even with that consequence offenders frequently refuse to pay. The terms of fines, fees and restitution often exceed an offender's term of probation, meaning many offenders are released from probation long before their payments are completed. It becomes considerably more difficult to collect when an offender gets released from probation as, without the consequence of a probation violation, the Probation Department has a very limited ability to impose any kind of sanction for refusal to pay.
In 2016, Probation entered into Agreement with the State of California, Franchise Tax Board (FTB) for collection. Since Probation entered into the Agreement, Probation has referred almost $4 million in debts for collection. This Agreement would allow the Probation Department to continue to refer delinquent accounts to the FTB because they have considerably more resources and authority to impose penalties for refusal to pay. Those penalties include, but are not limited to, setting up tax assessments, seizing income, filing liens or recommending criminal investigations.
There would be no additional up-front cost for the County as the Probation Department already has the software and licensing needed. The FTB would collect ...
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