78B-9-405 - Judgment and assistance payment.
78B-9-405. Judgment and assistance payment.
(1) (a) If a court finds a petitioner factually innocent under Title 78B, Chapter 9, Part 3,Postconviction DNA Testing, or under this part, and if the petitioner has served a period ofincarceration, the court shall order that, as provided in Subsection (2), the petitioner shall receivefor each year or portion of a year the petitioner was incarcerated, up to a maximum of 15 years,the monetary equivalent of the average annual nonagricultural payroll wage in Utah, asdetermined by the data most recently published by the Department of Workforce Services at thetime of the petitioner's release from prison.
(b) As used in this Subsection (1), "petitioner" means a United States citizen or anindividual who was otherwise lawfully present in this country at the time of the incident that gaverise to the underlying conviction.
(2) Payments pursuant to this section shall be made as follows:
(a) The Office of Crime Victim Reparations shall pay from the Crime VictimReparations Fund to the petitioner within 45 days of the court order under Subsection (1) aninitial sum equal to either 20% of the total financial assistance payment as determined underSubsection (1) or an amount equal to two years of incarceration, whichever is greater, but not toexceed the total amount owed.
(b) The Legislature shall appropriate as nonlapsing funds from the General Fund, and nolater than the next general session following the issuance of the court order under Subsection (1):
(i) to the Crime Victim Reparations Fund, the amount that was paid out of the fund underSubsection (2)(a); and
(ii) to the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, as a separate line item, theamount ordered by the court for payments under Subsection (1), minus the amount reimbursed tothe Crime Victim Reparations Fund under Subsection (2)(b)(i).
(c) Payments to the petitioner under this section, other than the payment underSubsection (2)(a), shall be made by the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice quarterlyon or before the last day of the month next succeeding each calendar quarterly period.
(d) Payments under Subsection (2)(c) shall:
(i) commence no later than one year after the effective date of the appropriation for thepayments;
(ii) be made to the petitioner for the balance of the amount ordered by the court after theinitial payment under Subsection (2)(a); and
(iii) be allocated so that the entire amount due to the petitioner under this section hasbeen paid no later than 10 years after the effective date of the appropriation made underSubsection (2)(b).
(3) (a) Payments pursuant to this section shall be reduced to the extent that the period ofincarceration for which the petitioner seeks payment was attributable to a separate and lawfulconviction.
(b) (i) Payments pursuant to this section shall be tolled upon the commencement of anyperiod of incarceration due to the petitioner's subsequent conviction of a felony and shall resumeupon the conclusion of that period of incarceration.
(ii) As used in this section, "felony" means a criminal offense classified as a felony underTitle 76, Chapter 3, Punishments, or conduct that would constitute a felony if committed in Utah.
(c) The reduction of payments pursuant to Subsection (3)(a) or the tolling of paymentspursuant to Subsection (3)(b) shall be determined by the same court that finds a petitioner to be
factually innocent under Title 78B, Chapter 9, Part 3, Postconviction DNA Testing, or this part.
(4) (a) A person is ineligible for any payments under this part if the person was alreadyserving a prison sentence in another jurisdiction at the time of the conviction of the crime forwhich that person has been found factually innocent pursuant to Title 78B, Chapter 9, Part 3,Postconviction DNA Testing, or this part, and that person is to be returned to that otherjurisdiction upon release for further incarceration on the prior conviction.
(b) Ineligibility for any payments pursuant to this Subsection (4) shall be determined bythe same court that finds a person to be factually innocent under Title 78B, Chapter 9, Part 3,Postconviction DNA Testing, or this part.
(5) Payments pursuant to this section:
(a) are not subject to any Utah state taxes; and
(b) may not be offset by any expenses incurred by the state or any political subdivision ofthe state, including expenses incurred to secure the petitioner's custody, or to feed, clothe, orprovide medical services for the petitioner.
(6) If a court finds a petitioner to be factually innocent under Title 78B, Chapter 9, Part3, Postconviction DNA Testing, or this part, the court shall also:
(a) issue an order of expungement of the petitioner's criminal record for all acts in thecharging document upon which the payment under this part is based; and
(b) provide a letter to the petitioner explaining that the petitioner's conviction has beenvacated on the grounds of factual innocence and indicating that the petitioner did not commit thecrime or crimes for which the petitioner was convicted and was later found to be factuallyinnocent under Title 78B, Chapter 9, Part 3, Postconviction DNA Testing, or this part.
(7) A petitioner found to be factually innocent under Title 78B, Chapter 9, Part 3,Postconviction DNA Testing, or this part shall have access to the same services and programsavailable to Utah citizens generally as though the conviction for which the petitioner was foundto be factually innocent had never occurred.
(8) Payments pursuant to this part constitute a full and conclusive resolution of thepetitioner's claims on the specific issue of factual innocence.
Enacted by Chapter 358, 2008 General Session