AB 74

Under current law, if a person commits a crime, the court that sentences the

person or places the person on probation must impose a surcharge in addition to any

other sentence imposed upon the person. Currently, if the person is convicted of a

misdemeanor, he or she must pay $67; if the person is convicted of a felony, he or she

must pay $92. The surcharge is divided three ways: part A ($40 for each

misdemeanor surcharge and $65 for each felony surcharge); part B ($20 for each

misdemeanor and felony surcharge); and part C ($7 for each misdemeanor and felony

surcharge).

Currently, the clerk of courts collects the surcharge amounts and forwards

them to the county treasurer, who in turn forwards them to the Department of

Administration to help fund programs for victims and witnesses of crime. Funds

from parts A and C are used to reimburse victims and witnesses and reimburse

counties for victim and witness programs. Funds from part B are used to fund

services for victims of sexual assault. Current law requires a person who is assessed

this surcharge to pay part A in full before he or she pays part B, and both parts A and

B before he or she pays part C.

This bill increases the surcharge by $20 for a misdemeanor and for a felony. The

bill creates a part D, which is funded by $20 for each misdemeanor or felony and

which a person who is assessed the surcharge may pay only after he or she pays parts

A, B, and C in full. Under the bill, the clerk of court forwards the amounts collected

under part D to the county treasurer along with the other parts of the surcharge, but

the treasurer retains those funds in a crime prevention fund.

Under the bill, a county treasurer deposits the funds he or she receives from

part D of the surcharge into a crime prevention fund. Moneys from the fund are

distributed as grants at the direction of a crime prevention funding board (CPFB).

Under the bill, a CPFB is created in every county whose treasurer receives funds

from a part D surcharge. Each CPFB consists of seven members: the presiding judge

of the circuit court, or his or her designee; the district attorney, or his or her designee;

the sheriff, or his or her designee; the county executive, county administrator, or

county board chairperson, or his or her designee; the chief elected official of the city,

village, or town with the largest population in the county, or his or her designee; a

person chosen by a majority vote of the top law enforcement officials of the

departments that are located in the county; and a person chosen by the county's

public defender's office. Members of a CPFB may be reimbursed for expenses but

may not receive any other compensation. Members serve for a term that is

determined by the CPFB.

A CPFB may solicit grant applications from certain specified entities and may

award grants to such entities. At least one-half of the funds must go to one or more

private, nonprofit organizations that has as its primary purpose preventing crime,

providing a funding source for crime prevention programs, encouraging the public