Collections Information

Reporting

In 2007, legislation was enacted requiring each superior court and county to jointly report to the Judicial Council the performance and best practices of the cooperative superior court and county collection program (Penal Code section 1463.010). The Judicial Council–approved reporting template can be downloaded below.

The Collections Reporting Template is an Excel spreadsheet and includes instructions, a glossary, contact and other information, program and performance worksheets.

Download the Collections Reporting Template

How to Report

The Collections Reporting Template is due to the Judicial Council on or before September 1, 2009 and annually thereafter. The Collections Reporting Template may be e-mailed to the AOC Enhanced Collections Unit at collections@jud.ca.gov, faxed to 818-558-3112, or mailed to the address below. The Financial Annual Report must be signed by the authorized court and county representative, and may be e-mailed to collections@jud.ca.gov or mailed to the address below.

Fax or mail to:
Margie Borjon-Miller
Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)
Finance Division, Enhanced Collections Unit
2255 North Ontario Street, Suite 200
Burbank, California 91504
Fax: 818-558-3112
E-mail: collections@jud.ca.gov

Cost Recovery

Penal Code section 1463.007 provides the standards by which a court or county may recover the costs of operating a comprehensive collection program. Costs may be recovered from the collection of delinquent court-ordered fees, fines, forfeitures, penalties, and assessments before revenues are distributed to another government entity.

The Judicial Council approved the Guidelines and Standards for Cost Recovery to aid court-ordered debt collection programs in the cost recovery process. Its definitions and interpretations, as well as those in the Collection Cost Recovery template and glossary, use information taken directly from Penal Code sections 1463.007 and 1463.010. The interpretations presented are consistent with those made by the Collaborative Court-County Working Group on Enhanced Collections, the Manual of Accounting and Audit Guidelines for Trial Courts, the Manual of Accounting Standards and Procedures of Counties, and the Trial Courts Policy and Procedures Manual. The Guidelines and Standards for Cost Recovery, Cost Recovery template and glossary, as well the Cost Recovery Distribution template can be downloaded below.

Available Resources

Performance, Benchmarks and Best Practices

Performance Measures and Benchmarks

Penal Code section 1463.010 requires the Judicial Council to establish performance measures and benchmarks to review the effectiveness of cooperative superior court and county collection programs statewide. The approved Collections Performance Measures and Benchmarks can be downloaded below.

Performance Measures and Benchmarks

Best Practices

Legislation requires each court and county to report annually to the Judicial Council the extent to which it is following established best practices for its collection programs. The approved Collections Best Practices can be downloaded below.

Collections Best Practices