Support HB 1390: Reform of Legal Financial Obligations (LFOs) for released prisoners.

LFOs refer to restitution, fines, public defender costs, incarceration costs, drug treatment, etc.  Provisions of the bill:

• Accrual of interest (now 12%) on the non-restitution portion is eliminated in the future, and retroactively upon motion of the offender. 
• A court may not impose non-restitution LFOs on a person found indigent at the time of sentencing.
• Payments go to restitution as highest priority.

Released prisoners are most often not able to pay these fines with their limited income, which compromises their efforts to rehabilitate themselves.  Relief from this burden will help released prisoners reconstruct their lives, reduce recidivism, and thus enhance public safety.  Remarkably, HB 1390 passed the full House 97 to 0.  Wow!  It should go next to the Senate Law and Justice Committee. Just recently, however, a new bill, SB 6642, emerged from the Senate Law and Justice Committee.  This new bill includes only the third provision above about restitution and does nothing to help the offender reintegrate into society — no mention of reducing interest or sparing indigent offenders of paying LFOs. SB 6642 is now in the Senate Ways and Means Committee.  SB 6642 should not be used to replace the original LFO bill HB 1390, the one that passed the House unanimously, although the language in SB 6642 could easily be incorporated into the far more comprehensive HB 1390.   As you feel led, can you send an email or phone your state Senator in support of HB 1390?  Please indicate that SB 6642 should not replace HB 1390, although its language could be used to complement the provisions of HB 1390. This Alert is being sent to Friends in the districts of Senators who are either members of the Senate Law and Justice Committee (Senators Darneille, Frockt, Padden, O’Ban, Pearson, Pedersen, and Roach) or are judged to be otherwise critical to the passage of HB 1390.  All Senators and their contact information are listed below (note that all phone numbers start with 360-786-). Thanks for all you do! In peace, Criminal Justice Working Group, FCWPP ————————————————————